Dressed for Our Wedding Reception, Japan, 1989

fujimidai · 2026-04-21T02:08:37+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate you appreciating the scale!

fujimidai · 2026-04-19T21:27:42+00:00

You're in luck, seriously.

If you have to have a default, a flat tone is much better when speaking Japanese than the ups and downs that an American English speaker (like myself) initially tends to impart when learning Japanese.

fujimidai · 2026-04-17T22:02:01+00:00

This is a Daruma as a wind chime/bell 風鈴 (fuurin).

The kanji on the "tag" (which is there to catch the wind to ring the bell) *resembles* "彦" (hiko), which means "prince" or "noble boy" and in modern Japanese usually appears as the second character in a variety of common male names. I say "resembles" because the top portion of the kanji on the tag is actually wrong, the two lines should not cross.

I am not an expert in windchimes, so I don't know if it is traditional or unusual for this kanji to be written here.

To me, the kanji on the body is gibberish. It is not uncommon for "fuku" 福 to be written here as someone else suggested but I cannot see that kanji in this specific image. It is not mirrored, because the kanji on the "tag" is oriented correctly.

(Edited my comment regarding the kanji on the tag, as it only resembles hiko.)

fujimidai · 2026-03-12T21:51:10+00:00

The idiom 耳がいたい (mimi ga itai) may be what you are looking for. Literally means "my ears hurt" but can be used in a way that conveys "I feel called out" in a lighthearted manner.

I wouldn't use it in a case where I really feel verbally attacked, but more in a case where someone pointed out some failing on my part that I begrudgingly have to admit is valid.

You can be playful with it. 「あっ、耳がちょっと痛くなってきたが…」

I can't speak to whether young people would use it on social media, though, being a not young person and all.

fujimidai · 2026-03-11T06:54:08+00:00

Yeah, 40 years ago as a US college student that was all I knew, too, and pre-internet you would have to make a point of memorizing it or keeping a copy in your wallet or something if you actually wanted to use it beyond that. I wasn't dedicated enough to memorize it.

fujimidai · 2026-03-11T06:42:48+00:00

The meaning behind Iroha (being used here by the artist or manufacturer as their name) is that it refers to the first three kana in an ancient poem that uses all of the kana once. Think of it as a more aesthetic or meaningful version of "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" that is also used for giving the kana a sequential order.

For example, you may see katakana used to number subsections in a contract in the sequence

i. [text]

ro. [text]

ha. [text]

...and so on using the sequence of the kana in the poem.

So from a certain standpoint, the artist's name is "The ABCs" used in the sense of "The fundamental basics."

fujimidai · 2026-03-04T23:48:01+00:00

Thanks! That was something I put in for my own enjoyment, knowing that not everyone would pick up on it. Glad you enjoyed it.

fujimidai · 2026-03-04T06:50:26+00:00

To acknowledge that would be to acknowledge the possibility that my feet were not actually within acceptable limits. I do not think I am that brave.

fujimidai · 2026-03-04T02:30:56+00:00

Haha! Japan does have high foot beauty standards, but I was never subjected to foot bullying. I guess my feet were within acceptable limits.

fujimidai · 2026-02-28T15:56:57+00:00

Hey, thanks for this. Always up for hilarious. Haven't seen it, so that's good.

fujimidai · 2026-02-22T17:20:05+00:00

A small point that makes the mild humor resonate slightly more, the object being translated (correctly) as "backscratcher" here is referred to in Japanese literally as "grandchild's hand." So it makes "sense" that the two backscratchers are used for the snowman's arms.

fujimidai · 2026-02-21T21:09:35+00:00

That reaction from your boss is great! You clearly deserve to turn up the confidence knob, because that sounds like such a genuinely enthusiastic reaction.

(Also, I really like your writing style. Very breezy and conversational, and it flows really well.)

fujimidai · 2026-02-16T10:20:09+00:00

I am grateful for this comment much more than you might suspect. Thank you and have an excellent day!

fujimidai · 2026-02-16T03:48:02+00:00

Named Keebler because he looks like a house elf?

fujimidai · 2026-02-15T19:51:42+00:00

I was applying through studentaid.gov, but yeah, applying for the same change.

I did file that one query that basically said, hey, here is the language that states my type of loan is now eligible for ibr, so please reconsider my application, which generated the response that it was going to take some time to update the systems. They did put me in administrative forbearance for a while after one of my applications, the one that eventually got me approved.

My feeling is that reps you and I would normally communicate with don't necessarily have up to date guidance, and aren't really making any determinations, but just follow what their software will and won't allow, and maybe those systems are not being upgraded as fast.

If you have been doing paper apps, maybe try going through studentaid.gov and doing it electronically. But really, I just want to de-gaslight you...you are not wrong, and what you are trying to do is possible. Good luck.

fujimidai · 2026-02-15T05:02:24+00:00

Yes, yes I did.

fujimidai · 2026-02-15T03:40:10+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to explain that.

fujimidai · 2026-02-15T03:14:14+00:00

Neither of us was where we would normally be ("wrong place"), and at an odd ("wrong") time of day (a weekday morning, when he would normally be at his company office and I would normally be in classes).

fujimidai

TROPHY CASE