Japan

* What are your first impressions when you think of Japan or Japanese culture?

When I was in highschool, I briefly got into Anime (Japanese Animation). When I think of Japan, I often think of the sometimes silly, sometimes graphically violent, and sometimes very... off-color animated films that I saw then. Unfortunately, today's version of Anime is really awful children's television shows that are badly translated or purposely mistranslated to appeal to what the producers think children enjoy.

I also think of technology. Japan sometimes seems to be far, far ahead of us in technological terms, but I think it's actually more cultural. The gadgets they get there are often available here, but many of them are social gadgets (cellular phones, communication devices) that many people need to own before they're really useful.

Also, there's the VERY different sexual culture that Japan seems to have. In fact, coincidentally, a friend showed me this the other day (WARNING - Nudity and sexual content): Japanese fetish clubs. From what I understand, Japan's different outlook on sex is because instead of being based on puritanical christianity as ours is, Japan's culture was based on Shintoism, which had much fewer sexual taboos. This may be completely untrue... I can't even really say where I heard that.

* What makes you laugh?

Lots of things... I listen to and watch and read alot of things I consider funny in very different ways. I really enjoy dry, strangely academic humor like John Hodgman, and I also love political humor (Bill Maher, John Stewart, Stephen Colbert). Plus, nothing beats good old slapstick and silliness (3 Stooges, Marx Brothers, Abbet and Costello). I also really love the MTV sketch comedy show The State that was cancelled years and years ago and its spinoffs, including Reno 911 and Stella. Oh, and of course, what some would just call "British Humor," like The Office, Fawlty Towers, etc.