Japanese Diary 21

[steepholm]

I've recently discovered that my television has access to the English service of the Japanese broadcaster NHK. It's buried far down its list of stations, well below the sports and the greyed-out pay-per-view porn, so I'm not surprised I missed it for so long. I've been tootling in the pop culture programmes and documentaries, many of which are quite interesting but - offputtingly to me, at least - are all narrated by the kind of determinedly cheery American voice that I associate with Disney wildlife documentaries, and last heard about forty years ago. It makes me long for something grim and downbeat, or at least for a less uniform approval of and delight in everything. I find myself muttering lines from "My Last Duchess", and reaching for the Off switch.

Luckily, I've started watching Attack on Titan on DVD, which caters to my need for grimness rather well.

Oh, and if you like bonsai and sushi, try this.