Donald Ash | The Japan Guy

Blog Archives

Cartoon Crushes

May 6, 2013
By
CartoonCrushDonnei

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT I wanna tell you about this girl that I used to do date. When I was little younger. I’m not old now. I’m still young, but when I younger…there was this girl I used to date. And…Wow, what can I say about her? She was everything I wanted in a girl. She was really smart, she was cute, wasn’t high maintenance whatsoever. She just liked to hang out. She didn’t need anything special. We just enjoyed being in each other’s company and that was enough. But one day she came up to me and she said “Donald, I’m sorry but I can’t see you anymore.” I was devastated. With tears in my...

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Panasonic Viera Commercial Spot 1

May 3, 2013
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Panasonic Viera Commercial Spot 1

A friend of mine who I filmed a commercial with late last year recently sent me the link for it. This commercial is for a pretty cool television set by Panasonic that allows you to share and connect with your smart phones and other smart devices. I don’t know much about price or release date specifics of the actual smart tv (as I like to call it), but it does look useful. I had a feeling that this is where television would eventually go. Everything being connected is the way to go. I wonder what your smart phone won’t be able to do in 20 years. It’s really interesting to think about. We’ll have...

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Teaching Japanese Kindergarten

May 2, 2013
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Teaching Japanese Kindergarten

Now that I’m pretty settled I sat back and realized just how busy the start of this year has been. I have moved twice in 60 Days?!? First it was Ouji, now it’s…well, I’ll tell later, keep reading: I told that being away from my beloved writing hasn’t been because of my master ghost ninpou tactics, but because the start of this year has been a whirlwind. Even thought I recently moved to Tokyo in early January, I did things a bit backwards from the “traditional job” perspective. I moved, then ended having to hunt after the modeling dry spell. I had to find a full-time job because I needed to eat, pay bills,...

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The Master of Ghost Ninpou?

May 1, 2013
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The Master of Ghost Ninpou?

Pant, pant, hoo, hooo…hoooooo! (the sound of Donald gasping for breath). “I…I’m…I’m back”…hoooo. Oh my God, let me tell you what’s been going on with me lately. I recently finished up at the Tokyo Ninjitsu graduate school with a major in the Ghost Arts. During our final examination, all ninja candidates had to demonstrate all of the 忍法 (ninpou: ninja arts) they had learned over the course of the program. I REALLY wanted to impress my panel of instructors, especially head instructor, Ryu Hayabusa…yes, Mr. Ninja Gaiden himself. I ended up demonstrating the forbidden Shadow Ginpou technique (Shadow + Ghost + Ninpou) the ultimate disappearing ninjitsu. This is not to be confused with the...

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AKB48: Real Controversy or Smart PR Moves?

February 19, 2013
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February 20th Release of AKB Album SO Long

You know what singing group has been making lots of Japanese news fairly recently? I’ll give you a hint (cue the candy, J-pop music) “I want you…I need you…I love you…” Still don’t know? Okay so maybe not everyone reading this may not be familiar with the group, but it’s AKB48, and there has been a just a bit of “controversy” surrounding the group lately. AKB48 is easily Japan’s premier girl, J-Pop band. Although there are other imitation groups that have had been relatively successful (NMB48 & SKE 48), AKB is hands down the most popular of these Japanese girl bands. This band is featured on everything from cell phone train ads, to television...

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Tales From Japan: A Strange Japanese Fairy Tale

February 14, 2013
By
urashimatarothumbnail

There is nothing like a good story to me. I was brought up hearing just about every story you could imagine. I was always fascinated that you could have so many different versions of a single tale. Japanese Fairy Tales are no different. Some of them are rather insightful, while others can be a tad strange. One story in particular really takes the “Huh?!” Award for Japanese folktales and that the story of Urashimataro. If you don’t know this story, please check out the video below and hear my take on a very strange Japanese story: What do you think the moral of Urashimataro is? Leave your comments below

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What is Tokyo Exactly?

January 23, 2013
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What is Tokyo Exactly?

When people used to ask me where I lived it was really quite easy to just say “Oh I live in Tsukuba.” If I got the “Where is that?” follow-up question, I could just easily say “It’s in Ibaraki, a prefecture in eastern Japan.” Generally, that is the end of the conversation. Now when people ask me where I live, I can say Tokyo, but after trying to remember my address, I realize there is a lot more to Tokyo than meets the eye. When you hear Tokyo, what do you think? A city in Japan, right? I know that’s what I thought of. When I hear that Tokyo is the capital of Japan,...

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Welcome to Tokyo, Donnie

January 18, 2013
By
Struggling to figure out Japan life? Click Here!

I’ve fallen into that same old habit again, not writing when I don’t have any good news to report, but lately I realize that’s contrary to why I started this blog in the first place. This blog was intended to be a resource, a journal and an insight into Japan life from this foreigner’s perspective. I have been a genuine funk for several weeks. I can’t say whether it’s because I left Tsukuba, if it’s the bustle of lugging all of my things to Tokyo, having to move into shared housing, the up and downs of modeling work, having to restart the job hunt, the recent convenience store diet, or a combination of all...

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Tasty Cuisine in Japan: Ali’s Chicken Kebab

December 15, 2012
By
Doner Chicken Kebab

Man, I don’t know if it’s the same for you guys, but for me food can be like heaven sometimes. I was walking around Tsukuba, just trying to wrap my head around the apartments I’d seen and how on earth I was going to be able to move. In the midst of my worries, I got this delightful aromatic whiff of something. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it smelled incredible and it reminded me of something…but what? I pulled my Toucan Sam move and followed my nose to the smell and I stumbled upon this kabob truck. Across the front of it I saw the name: “Ali’s Kebab.” In an instant, I...

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Foreigners In Japan Profile – featuring Kevin Davies

December 14, 2012
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Foreigners In Japan Profile – featuring Kevin Davies

COOL PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHING IN JAPAN featuring Kevin Davies 1. Kevin, tell us about yourself. Where were you born? Burien, Washington 2.Where did you grow up? Lived in Washington until I was 11 then moved to Idaho. A few years after I finished college my family moved back to Washington. 3. Where did you go to school? Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. 4. What brought you to Japan? I’m quarter Japanese and have quite a bit of extended family here. That was probably my main motivation. The only reason I ended up teaching English was because that’s the easiest way to make it over here. 5. I know it’s a weird question, but...

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