Michael Vito・マイケル ヴィート

Basically, my thinking now is I'll put something out there if I find it fun/enjoyable/meaningful and I have the time/energy. If anybody else gets something out of it, fabulous, but I'm not letting the platforms and their feedback mechanisms run the show anymore.

I wouldn't say I've reached nirvana, but definitely hit the "I just don't really care anymore" stage of social media/interwebs engagement :)

Happy cat day!

Sometimes I think they float ideas like this just so that the future marginally less crazy (but still batshit) policies they really want seem palatable by comparison. It's a basic negotiating tactic used to anchor your counter-party closer to your position.

＜ブログ更新＞

「一日一写　－ 2025年7月 －」
photo626shin.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-3...

7月は天の川撮ったり海の中撮ったりと、いろいろ撮影できて楽しかったです。

Mendokoro Masujirou

( ⌒o⌒)人(⌒-⌒ )v

Gonna die on this hill

New post: Weekly Review of Transit, Place and Culture in Anime 540 likeafishinwater.com/2025/08/01/w... 2025 Summer Season Overview | Pilgrimages: Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku, Kanokari, Aobuta, Game Center Shōjo, Fudoasu, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

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Once Upon a Time in Japan Part 2: Vox Eterni... (Voice of the
I asked foreign residents across Japan how Sanseito’s win landed—and what they see coming.
They didn’t hold back.

📰 bayemcneil.substack.com/p/once-upon-...

Taishouken, Jinhongqiao shop

Are you looking to keep an older machine going after Windows 10 hits EOL?

A cat named Leonardo da Pinchy doesn’t want your affection. He wants to steal your underwear A laundry-stealing cat with expensive taste has puzzled and delighted a neighborhood in Auckland, New Zealand, by committing an unstoppable wave of burglaries from clotheslines and even bedrooms.

“He only wants stuff that he shouldn’t have” apnews.com/article/cat-...

In Linux, "I did X and it nuked Y" is a feature, not a bug (^^) You get better at it with practice.

「日々は過ぎれど飯うまし」舞台探訪 at 三国駅周辺

Pop and Populism Japan’s far right won big in yesterday's elections. What's it mean for pop culture?

Japan’s Sanseito is a far-right political group that’s pretty much anti-everything — immigrants most of all. They won 15 seats in the parliamentary elections yesterday. And boy, do they want to regulate Japan’s pop culture: blog.pureinventionbook.com/p/pop-and-po...

Ah, I see them now. Yeah, I figured it was some kind of protective kitsune, hence amulets. I was trying to not "dilute Japanese culture," but it turns out they just want you to buy something from the vending machine (^^)

When in Rome...Beware of the Romans! How My Toyo Keizai Article Triggered a National Reckoning on Foreign Residents, Rules, and Cultural Fear

“If you can’t follow our ways, go home.”
“Foreigners dilute our culture.”
I heard it all after my latest article on xenophobia in Japan went viral.
But beneath the outrage lies a deeper fear—and an even harder truth.
👉 When in Rome… Beware of the Romans.
bayemcneil.substack.com/p/when-in-ro...

The third line in the heatstroke warning, are those supposed to be omamori?

On the Edge: Xenophobic Rhetoric and Its Impact on Foreign Residents in Japan | Baye McNeil Get more from Baye McNeil on Patreon

'If Japan is heading down the same path as the U.S.—toward exclusion and scapegoating—I’m scared,' says one long-term resident. 'Not nervous—scared.'
www.patreon.com/posts/on-edg...

‘Cult of convenience’: how Tokyo’s retro shotengai arcades are falling victim to gentrification Across Japan covered shopping arcades are in a losing battle against property developers, depopulation and consumer culture

"Across Japan, covered shopping arcades are in a losing battle against property developers, depopulation and consumer culture"

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

As relevant as it has ever been. Form and technique is something I have always strived to focus a critic. Cinematography, editing, set-design, score. It all matters. *Way* too much criticism these days just skims through plot and character interactions like a book report.

Mysterious object composed of several stones located at the end of Minami-Osawa Campus, Tokyo Metropolitan University (東京都立大学南大沢キャンパス), which appears as a symbol in the anime Food for the Soul (日々は過ぎれど飯うまし)

Arcade named as Information Gallery (インフォメーションギャラリー) in the same campus

Visited Tokyo Metropolitan University (東京都立大学) last wednesday to feel—I mean, taste the air of the anime Food for the Soul (日々は過ぎれど飯うまし). A cozy spacious college with full of green must have contributed to a laid-back atmosphere among the quintet. I liked it here.

Photo of a Nanboku Line 乗り換え 出口案内 (transfer and exit guide) on a station platform.

The other day, I was telling friends and family how a housewife originated these Tokyo Metro transfer and exit guides, and they thought I was kidding. It used to be a well-known story. If you don't know it, here's a quick summary.

Windows 11 routine security update (KB5062553) fails on brand new PC with no 3rd party software installed. Standard troubleshooting, cache clearing, service restarting, manual installing, etc. also fail to resolve. Yaaay \(- -)/

Had a no social media (and almost no internet) weekend. Was nice. Would recommend.

"We might also be heading toward something like Posting Zero, a point at which normal people—the unprofessionalized, uncommodified, unrefined masses—stop sharing things on social media as they tire of the noise, the friction, and the exposure." @chaykak.bsky.social

Tsukudani and hot rice: Still a go-to meal in Japan centuries after its creation A father and son in Tokyo are continuing the centuries-old tradition of making tsukudani, a preserved Japanese food.

My AP Story and My @apnews.com Photos today

apnews.com/article/tsuk...

「外国人優遇はデマ」と緊急声明　政党の排外主義政策に反対（共同通信） - Yahoo!ニュース 参院選で複数政党が「違法外国人ゼロ」や「日本人ファースト」などと排外主義政策を掲げているとして、外国人の人権や難民問題に取り組む8団体が8日、「外国人が優遇されているというのは全く根拠のないデマ」

8 groups representing the rights of foreigners and refugees in Japan, held a press conference to reject the narrative that foreigners get preferential treatment. They issued an urgent call for political parties to end xenophobic campaigning. news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/80b...