I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: みっちりねこマーチ – MitchiriNeko March (2013).

Because Lewis-Kraus mentions “the most important internet cat band of our day” in this article, I did a search for such a thing and came across this.  This is an adorable cartoon of cats marching (and playing along to the music).

I didn’t look into this too hard, and I don’t really know MitchiriNeko, although the video says that “MitchiriNeko” is a cat-like cartoon character who is always in a group to hang out so closely with each other wherever they go.

I’ve listed below more stuff about MitchiriNeko, but really I just enjoyed watching the video.

Evidently there is a web comic for this fella:
Manga Box! English editions are coming soon.
https://www.mangabox.me/
https://www.mangabox.me/reader/247/

There are apps for this character:
iPhone
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/mitch…
Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de…

And this song “MitchiriNeko March” is now on sale.
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/mit…

[READ: November 17, 2014] “Story A”

I enjoyed Gideon Lewis-Kraus’ previous Harper’s essay about Japan: “Sleeping Together.”  I thought it would be fun to tie it to this one which is also about Japan.

He says that for a time, he was drawn to “particular breeds of the Japanese trivial” like “the “most important internet cat band of our day” and the cafe that he describes in “Sleeping Around.”  Thus he was immediately drawn to the Japanese hole-digging contest.  He decided to go see it, which would also allow him to visit his brother Micah in Japan.

The title of the article, “Story A” refers to a journalistic practice in which “essays purport to be about one thing but reveal themselves to be about some other, profounder thing.  Story A might be about the game of Monopoly but its real role is to give cover to Story B which is about the decline of the American city.”  He imagined that the nonsense of hole digging could lead to something incredibly profound.

I enjoyed the description of the Japanese use of branded tape as a proof of purchase, which instantly grants you safe transit from a store. His brother says, “if you had a roll of that green tape, you could tag a bulldozer and they’d have to let you bring it.”

But this is all about the contest.  There are many teams, some of whom are in costumes: dragon costumes, Pokemon suits, clown wigs, milk cartons (!) (there are prizes for best costume and funniest hole).   They are intermingled with the non-humorous contestants, who are intent on setting out their plots of land and divining their approach.  Despite the appeal of the funny teams, Gideon is not interested in them–there’s no time.  The teams have 30 minutes to dig the deepest hole and he needs to focus on the winner.

There is a film crew from Australia camped out at a particular site–the defending champions (last year they dug 11 feet 1.5 inches).  Although he says there are probably five or six contenders and the Australian crew plan to devote a couple of minutes to them all but to focus on this team.

It turns out that teams have different strategies–dig straight down, dig out the sides while another digs straight down, dig a triangle (?).  Of course, as anyone who has dug a hole quickly learns, there are many problems with trying to go deep without going wide–how do you shovel if the hole is as wide as you, for one.  The champions have clearly been working together.  They tag out with great frequency, working hard and then resting (and smoking) on breaks.

But then Gideon and his brother discover another team who was off to the side somewhat and seems to be doing very well indeed–they have planned out their strategy with charts!  He quickly tells the Australian team to check them out, too.

By the end, Gideon is trying to find Story B,  He says that the holes look like graveyards and that air of expectation seems solemn.  But then his brother informs him that the Japanese don’t bury their dead: “The only people thinking about graves are you and me.”  So much for Plan B.

I’ll save the winning team for you to discover on your own.