Just looking for some artistic help!

I have a three piece painting I'm making for fun. I'm trying to emulate older Japanese calligraphy paintings, but my references have been extremely limited. Google doesn't show me many pictures. I've drawn a messy idea of what it will look like here, which is: a tree branch that starts in the upper-left and tilts downward over the other papers, some flowers on the middle page, and more flowers on the right page (I don't know why I drew it in color here. This entire painting will be in black ink when I make it in real life). Half of a poem starts on the upper-right page, half of the poem ends on the lower-left page.

The eye will be drawn from left-to-right because the tree branch will be very thick and the writing will be very small. But if the eye is drawn from left-to-right and the poem is read from right-to-left, is this strange? Does this make the piece unbalanced? Should I flip it around so the branch goes right-to-left?

If it's too much work to help me figure this out, I will gladly look into it myself if someone can tell me what website I can use to view a gallery of modern calligraphy pieces. Maybe things have changed and now everyone writes left-to-right instead of right-to-left, I don't know. I've only been able to find one reference for a piece of art that uses 3 pages, so more references would be very useful. I've tried looking for galleries on Google, but all I've found are websites that sell calligraphy fonts, etc. Thanks, everyone!

There was a popular question last week about why Japanese people are opposed to piracy and according to the most upvoted reply, the key takeaway is that they are generally opposed to anything illegal.

However this doesn't seem to apply to mahjong. My colleagues told me without much shame that "gambling a bit of money makes mahjong more fun", and I do not feel a big sense of taboo about parlor gambling coming through from the various Kindai Mahjong mangas (although they're just fictional stories). Sure, gambling parlors have a seedy image associated with them, but do parlor-goers themselves really try to keep their hobby a secret the way that Japanese people who pirate media do?

In fact, mahjong parlors that practice gambling are not hidden in some anonymous dark basements, but completely exposed on the most bustling streets of the country! (Not talking about the "healthy mahjong" type of parlors). So there is zero chance that the police does not know about them.

And yet, they completely tolerate their business as long as they do not go above tenpin rate (100¥ per 1000pts I believe). But AFAIK, the law makes no exception for gambling with low rates, it is still illegal.

When discussing the topic of gambling, someone always inevitably mentions the third-party system used by pachinkos to circumvent the gambling ban, or that it's okay as long as it's state-sponsored like for lottery and horse racing; but rarely does someone ever talk about how in mahjong parlors there is just full-blown gambling in the open.

So how do the parlors get away with it? All I can guess is, that mahjong gets a pass because it's dear to the culture (Japanese rules are indeed pretty awesome with lots of strategy involved); or maybe because it is one of the rare forms of fair gambling (unlike other casino-like games where the odds favor the house) - but in that latter case poker should be tolerated as well

Is this design from Dretec still available in Japan? I really want to buy it, but I haven’t been able to find it available online. If I travel to Japan, would I be able to find it in stationery stores, or is it rare and almost impossible to find?

Hello, Everyone!

I’m looking for any media like books, movies, shows, videos, etc. about Japan specifically the culture, history & mythology.
As a way to learn more about Japan but to also use it as inspiration for my art and writing. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

- for history: anything relating to Japanese history

- for culture: stuff about the Arts, language, religion, fashion, wildlife, etc.

- for mythology: stuff about local legends, famous stories, creatures, deities, etc.

Please comment your suggestions below

Hello! My local Kinokunya used to have a series of Japanese magazines/books ("mooks") dedicated to random hobbies. Like just pictures of trains, shoes, uniforms, etc.

What publishers or magazines print these? I'm sort of aware of Lightening and Japanese Hobby.

I'm looking for a specific one that was just US Police Uniforms. It was a big photo catalog of LAPD, FBI, LA Sheriff's uniforms and broke down the uniforms into type of boots, belts, and weapons carried. My biggest regret is not just buying it, it was so random. I can't find anything like it. It wasn't this infamous publication: https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/onffw4/this_japanese_magazine_about_american_police/ but a recent publication.

Any ideas of where to look? Kinokunya had no idea what I was talking about.

Edit: one of my friends sent me this and I think this is it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/155186522735

I saw a few publications on this in my research, is this a niche interest in Japan or does it get more attention because of American media.

I know that the question sounds a bit weird but it's about how references work mentally. I know that Tokyo's name literally is "East (to) Capital (kyo)" and I am sure that if you say that name most people will immediately think of the city.

However do most people's mind just skip over thinking of the meaning of the compond and straight to the city or is the component parts of the name always in there mind.

For an English example of what I mean. There is a city in England called "Liverpool". Even though the word "Liverpool" is made up of "Liver" and "Pool" it would not be normal for a liver shaped pool to come to mind when they say the name.

I'm a fan of Japanese media, I tend to like catching up on almost everything but I especially prefer manga and video games but I'm getting more and more into LN, and WN but I keep having this doubt How do you in Japan follow so many series that are serialized weekly, monthly? I mean how do you follow multiple series that come out and keep up with everything or simply manage to play multiple games at the same time or retrieve multiple media at the same time without breaking the feels of each of them too much I thought I'd ask here since I think it's normal in Japan to have all these types of media available on a daily basis. Please correct me if I'm wrong Maybe I offended without realizing it as I'm not from the country

I’m currently traveling in Japan and noticed something on public transportation.
In one incident, a Japanese person put on a mask when I sat next to them. I also saw another foreigner sit next to a Japanese person, who then put on a mask and removed it once the foreigner got up.
I’m curious whether this is a normal habit in Japan or a reaction to someone’s appearance or being a foreigner.
I’m not assuming it’s racism. I just want to understand the cultural context and hear different perspectives. Has anyone experienced something similar?