Author Archives: Michael Gakuran

Nyoki Nyoki, Mydodolook and Magibon

By Michael Gakuran | Published November 25, 2008
Youtube videostars – Nyoki Nyoki, Mydodolook and Magibon. This is the new form of entertainment, apparently. These sort of popular “vloggers” are sweeping in viewers from all over. And how? Through tactical kawaii (cute) façades and mind-bogglingly teasing gimmicks!
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Squid ties and USB drives

By Michael Gakuran | Published November 19, 2008
Another deep sea creature-related post that vaguely sings of bioluminescence. Behold! No longer is your USB key bound to those boring plastic cases! Accessorise your keys with a squid. And not just any squid – a Firefly Squid. I wonder if it glows blue when you plug in its tentacles?
Posted in Other | 8 Comments

Metaethics Intro

By Michael Gakuran | Published November 16, 2008
Back to School! I’ve entered my final year at University and am taking 3 modules: ‘Metaethics’ and ‘Kant’s Critical Philosophy’ this semester and next semester will be the Philosophy of Sex! This year could well be the last time I post seriously about philosophically-related things, but I will always try to keep that ‘breath of […]
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Three Quirky Deep Sea Creatures

By Michael Gakuran | Published November 13, 2008
Three fascinating deep sea creatures strutting their stuff; the Firefly Squid (arguably Japan’s most recognisable bioluminescent organism), some dinoflagellates (glow-in-the-dark plankton) and the rainbow-like comb-jelly, which looks more like a circus merry-go-round in the dark than a deep-sea lifeform!
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Anki-ising

By Michael Gakuran | Published October 31, 2008
JLPT1 is but a month away! Cue stressing out and breakdown. Luckily, the great spaced-repetition program Anki is here to help! Basically, you create cards which have word, reading and meaning boxes. You add anything you want, from a single kanji to a complex sentence and Anki will sort it out!
Posted in Other | 4 Comments

Battle Royale Collar

By Michael Gakuran | Published October 29, 2008
It’s Autumn and yesterday we had the Japanese Society-East Asian Society annual Halloween party. I opted for a last-minute Battle Royale tribute since I already own a Gakuran! Here’s how I made the collar.
Posted in Japan | 12 Comments

Knowing Nothing v2

By Michael Gakuran | Published October 15, 2008
I don’t quite know what hit me, but I was suddenly overwhlemed with the urge to re-design my website a couple of days ago. I’ve been busy with Photoshop and enduring headaches over niggling coding issues, but finally it’s done. It’s just as well too, as I haven’t the time to be making websites, what […]
Posted in Design & Web | 3 Comments

Adventures on Yakushima

By Michael Gakuran | Published October 5, 2008
Finally, at long last! I made it to the green island of Yakushima, tucked snugly away below Kyushu in the South of Japan. It’s a chunk of land covered mostly in sugi (cedar) trees, and awesomely huge ones at that, with sage-old weathered limbs gnarled and warped bearing thickets of leaves, all the way up […]
Posted in Japan | 35 Comments