#Japan visa for artists

[jungwookjins]

the o’s finally on their way to japan, all is well in the world 😌😌

[pbscoreart]

(description in alt text)

Hello everyone!! I have officially turned 27 today and I’m beyond grateful for where I’m at in my life currently! I’ve moved to Japan to become a teacher and continue to pursue animation and illustration.

I just want to say thank you to all of the folks who have been following and supporting me all this time. I really appreciate all of friends I’ve made through this site and I hope we can continue to stay friends even with me far away at the moment.

I do have one bday wish though and that’s if y’all can just support my artwork by reblogging this post or sending me a commission! I have to wait on my work visa to process and I have to still save whatever I can for living and moving expenses. I would like to spend time drawing and earning extra income in the meantime while I wait until I have a stable job.

Remember, if you cannot afford a commission, that’s is alright! Just spread my posts around or telling your friends about me is good enough!! I appreciate any bit of support I can get.

Here's my Linktree so y'all can see my kofi and other social links where you can follow/support me: https://linktr.ee/pbscore

Again, thank you all so much for your support kindness in these difficult times. I wish you all the best in your own endeavors and hope you all come out on top! 🦁🌻☀️

[space-blue]

Hey, I saw you reblogging that post about normalizing sending people random asks and can only assume that you'd like some. So here some random questions (in no order) that you can answer in whatever length and degree of seriousness that you're comfortable with:

Favourite dinosaur/prehistoric animal?

Dead historical person that you'd like to resurrect for a chat or a chance to yell at them?

Most/least favourite story trope in fiction?

A country that you'd like to visit some day?

Something funny that happend to you (If you want^^)?

A nature fact that you find fascinating?

Food that you'd like to try?

Favourite artist/artistic inspiration/art style?

Last song that you listened to?

The prettiest insect/arthropod that you can find online?

I think that list is long enough, skip whatever you want if it's too invasive or weird :))

Damn, now that's an ask!! O_O Thank you! Sat down to try and think it through. I don't mind being serious :3

Favourite dinosaur/prehistoric animal?

I love a lot of them, especially now that we have such a greater understanding of what they looked like. Floofy dinos are just extra excellent. But I think I'll have to crown Spinosaurus. It's a bit of a meme dinosaur by now. Every discovery changes our perception of what it looked like, and people still debate if it was aquatic or not. (I'm team aquatic all the way) I mean look at it. It's fucking iconic.

I once started a short story set in a future in which humans had long since reengineered some dinosaurs, and a pirate crew had a raft-style boat that was powered by a Spinosaurus. They'd pierced grommets in the sail to clip ropes to her back. They also had pet Troodons on the crew. Sadly I lost steam and inspiration and never went anywhere with the story. I still adore Spinosaurus.

Dead historical person that you'd like to resurrect for a chat or a chance to yell at them?

If I could just indulge myself, Francois Renee de Chateaubriand. Absolutely crazy guy. Lived through the French revolution, Napoleon, went to the Americas, wrote early romantic works, mostly known for his autobiography memoirs from beyond the grave. He's truly a blorbo from my history. Look at this :

“A moral character is attached to autumnal scenes; the leaves falling like our years, the flowers fading like our hours, the clouds fleeting like our illusions, the light diminishing like our intelligence, the sun growing colder like our affections, the rivers becoming frozen like our lives—all bear secret relations to our destinies.”

BUT if I had a perfect translator and could quizz to my heart's content, and had actual intentions of being useful, I'd talk to a Gaulois. Probably Vercingetorix or an earlier leader from Celtic France.

We know SO little about these people. They're my ancestors, and we have almost no knowledge of their beliefs and practices. We have some (most likely wrong and slanderous) accounts from (the invading) romans. And archeological finds. But stuff like Cernunos/Karnonos (for who I wrote one of my fav short stories ever) is known from one pillar, one cauldron, and nothing else! We don't even know what he was the god of!

It's so infuriating to me. If I could quizz a Gaulois, I'd write the most detailed and comprehensive guide to their belief, their knowledge of others tribes, and their everyday life. I'd want to know about their gods, their myths, and their superstitions.

Most/least favourite story trope in fiction?

A/B/O and mpreg

A country that you'd like to visit some day?

Japan... Sad hours... I live in the UK, right. Scotland. And I had managed to get a work holiday visa to Japan! It's free to get, you just have an age limit. So I saved money (excruciatingly slowly, the UK being what it is), and finally planned it all. Got the visa (in Paris), got 400£ worth of shots (encephalitis, japanese encephalitis, rabies...), and was ready to apply for a Mongolian visa and start buying train tickets.

You see, I was going to do Scotland > London > Paris > Berlin > Warsaw > Vilnius > Tallinn > St Petersburg > Moscow > Irkutsk (on the transsiberian!!) > Ulaanbaatar > Beijing > Shanghai > Osaka

All train and bus, except for the last leg, which is a ferry.

When I was getting my second of three injections (always rabies + another and rabies turned me into a shivering plank of wood omg) the doctor was like... 'are you sure you want the last round done? There's this worrying cough developing in China at the moment...'

January 2020, RIP.

And then I aged out of the Japanese visa. And then Russia went to war and ruined its reputation forever. I spent a lot of time trying to make myself see that COVID had far worse repercussions for countless people, and I got off easily. But this was the culminations of a decade of dreaming and many years of planning and saving. It was a major bummer.

Something funny that happened to you (If you want^^)?

Weirdly enough this one stumps me. IDK why. I have weird, crazy, bad... but funny?

OH. Actually I think I told it once here. I'm sorry, it's not even funny either, just wild...

A nature fact that you find fascinating?

This entire video.

Food that you'd like to try?

A real family style chinese hot pot. The sort you eat on a tiny plastic stool in someone's backyard.

Favourite artist/artistic inspiration/art style?

That's definitely too hard. I don't have a favourite. Maybe it's because I studied art. Not a matter of taste, but a matter of exposure. I've seen a lot of styles and a lot of artists and there is no one work I can point to and say "this is it". The inspiration art folder I keep is extremely varied itself. Variety is the spice of life.

Last song that you listened to?

I'm currently listening to the IXION soundtrack as I write! It absolutely SLAPS.

The prettiest insect/arthropod that you can find online?

Definitely has to be a moth. Also I really love the colour scheme of this wasp :

I think moths are just so gorgeous. Butterflies too of course, but the moths are SO fluffy and some of them have insanely clean aesthetics.

LOOK

Milionia moth

Look at this Pompelon Marginata! Literally the Louboutin of moths.

Also they can have really fun caterpillars:

Little beasts... And I think it fucks that they make themselves a cocoon and basically liquify into some primordial goo to remake themselves. And often remake themselves as their best dressed sex party tiiiime!!

Hope that answers your questions appropriately :3

[j4m3s-b4k3r]

Heroes & Monsters

I kept seeing something moving quickly out of the corner of my eye. But it had always disappeared whenever I looked up & out the window by my lightbox.. After a few of these annoying distractions, I stopped working, and stared intently out the window. Until.. I saw weird SCI-FI NINJAS acrobatically battling a SPACE MONSTER on the rooftop across the road. Wha?! 

I had no idea what I was looking at! Colleagues explained that this was a shoot for a popular Japanese action/sci-fi TV show called SUPER SENTAI. I was in Tokyo, working at TOEI Animation studios. Their live-action studio was nearby, and they were simply shooting stunts on the rooftops of the mall across the street. (This same show would soon take the world by storm, renamed as - POWER RANGERS!)

Mystery thus solved, I turned my attention back to my work. Which was also about spandex-clad heroism - a 50th birthday animated series of SUPERMAN. With character designs by the great Gil Kane (I later discovered that another fave comics artist worked on the show too - Jim Woodring).

I’d looked for animation work when arriving in Japan, with no luck. Despite having a working holiday visa, and several polite interviews at studios. Anime gurus were unimpressed by my career working on terrible Saturday morning cartoons..

So I did the inevitable. English teaching. That, and a few illustration gigs, financed my own studies at a Japanese language school (recommended by pal Martin Ramsay). I enjoyed learning Japanese in the mornings, with afternoons free to explore Tokyo, before teaching English classes in the evenings.

Then, Sean Newton told me of a short animation job at TOEI in northwest Tokyo. My background in American Saturday Morning animation was suddenly an advantage, because TOEI’s client was Ruby-Spears in LA. I continued teaching the evening classes (till the semester ended) but had to stop my own Japanese lessons, sadly. However, I jumped at the chance to work in a Japanese animation studio.

I'd done Layout supervision in Taiwan, and oversaw inbetweening and reshoots in Korea. For the TOEI job, I was to help the Ruby-Spears on-site animation supervisor with fixes & reshoots. This gig even came with an apartment, in a building owned by TOEI mere blocks from their studio.

TOEI animation studio was created in 1956 (with roots in an earlier studio, Nihon Douga Eiga founded in 1948). Many anime masters got their start at this great studio - Osamu Tezuka began at TOEI, as did Hayao Miyazaki & Isao Takahata. The list of famous anime titles produced there is long indeed.

Since arriving in Japan, I often went to anime movies, trying my hardest to follow the language. Which was usually a fool's errand, as my Japanese vocabulary wasn't extensive, but I could follow the fantastic visuals. It was a great year for animation. I'd seen "TOTORO" in April. "GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES" had come out in May. Even western animation was fun, with "ROGER RABBIT" in June. I was utterly floored by "AKIRA" in July.

Anyway, there so many great projects in production around that time, that it was hard to get experienced animators interested in SUPERMAN. I am not sure what precisely was attracting talent when we needed it. Possibly TOEI's own DRAGONBALL-Z? or Kawajiri’s DEMON CITY SHINJUKU (which dropped later that year).

Trying to pump up enthusiasm for SUPERMAN, my boss had episodes of the 1940s Fleischer/Famous Studios cartoons sent from LA. He assembled animators in a screening room, and spoke excitedly about the history of the SUPERMAN character, and the classic cartoons - “This is what we are going for!” The lights dimmed and he rolled tape. The very first thing on screen was the title..

THE JAPOTEURS. I flinched. Uh, oh..

What followed was several minutes of absolutely the most racist stereotyping of the Japanese. Yikes. I'd seen some of these classic SUPERMAN cartoons before, but not this one. It was perhaps the first time that I saw a feel-good pop-culture icon used as a propaganda tool.

All the other shorts on that tape were about catching bank robbers, or fighting robots built by a criminal mastermind. Beautifully designed & animated action-escapism. Just what the supervisor had intended to show. If he'd previewed the video, he could have shown an inspiring action-animation banquet. Minus the insulting racism appetiser.

The lights went up, and he awkwardly apologised that these these cartoons were made during World War 2, when Japanese were the baddies. This mea culpa was made more awkward & prolonged as it had to be translated, sentence by embarrassing sentence.. If the intention was to get the Japanese crew excited for the poster boy of Truth Justice & The American Way.. well, that screening had the exact opposite effect, sadly..

Our main liaison with the crew was an absolutely lovely man, named Mr Otani. I imagine that he did serious damage control after that.. Otani San had worked at TOEI for many years, and knew everyone (he even had tales of working with Miyazaki). Anyway, I think it's largely due to this well-loved man that a crew finally assembled to finish the show.

By the standards of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons, the show came out pretty well, but is perhaps the least well-known of all the animated series of SUPERMAN. I wasn’t on the project long enough to get a screen credit. Which didn't bother me. It was years before I realised that screen credits on cartoons even mattered. That changed years later, when I applied for a US work visa..

ha ha!

[fdotaku]

An Analysis of Pixiv's Recent Censorship of Femdom Artists

Do you have femdom artists you love? Pixiv is the #1 online platform that Japanese artists use to share their art, sort of like Japan's version of DeviantArt. Even among Western 2D femdom artists, Pixiv's popularity has rapidly increased in the last few years.

This article is my attempt to shed light on Pixiv's policy enforcement changes this year that have targeted a number of artists, which sadly include femdom ones.

If you're a fan of 2D femdom, especially the heavy BDSM variety, it's natural to want to know if some of your favorite artists have been forced to delete or alter their creative works, and why. It's hard to find that info anywhere else, due in large part to the fact that Japanese artists don't always defend themselves as vocally as they have a right to.

Also, just to be clear, I'll say this up-front: the only parts of Pixiv that have been affected are the 3 monetizable parts, Pixiv Fanbox (a Patreon-like site), Booth (an itch.io-like site), and "requests" (i.e. paid commissions). The main Pixiv site where artists can create profiles and share their works for free has been unaffected, and is likely to stay unaffected.

Sorry, this will ultimately be a very lengthy post; if you just want to learn what's up with Pixiv, skip down to the section "Changes at Pixiv in Late 2022" for recent events, or the section after that "2D Artists Later Targeted" for a list of some of the affected artists.

To start, I want to explain the role of international credit card companies in all of this. This controversy ultimately begins and ends with them.

The Specter of the International Credit Card Companies

Two American companies, VISA and MasterCard, have an international near-duopoly when it comes to processing credit card payments. In other words, when a site like Pixiv wants to accept customers' money, one of the most convenient and popular ways to do that is to let them pay with credit cards, but in order to do so, Pixiv needs to make a deal with a bank which in turn has a deal with a payment processing company, and their only real choice is the VISA-Mastercard duopoly if they want to reach a large number of customers, especially internationally.

So what does this duopoly mean? It means that VISA and Mastercard are also responsible for making sure they don't accidentally fund terrorists or other kinds of criminals… Or to put it in terms they understand, they need to make sure they don't accidentally facilitate the payments of someone in a way that results in political fallout. It's not like these 2 companies are omniscient and can prevent anyone from ever processing a payment for a crime, and small controversies will pop up frequently. But if they fail to properly police their partners, especially if they were previously "warned" by an outside entity but failed to take action, and a small controversy becomes a massive controversy, it's not impossible that they could have that status taken from them. Their duopoly only exists through the tacit approval of the United States government, which expects them to do a competent job. For now, there are no serious threats to their duopoly. But in my personal opinion, if they allow 1 or 2 more massive controversies on the level of what happened with Pornhub, they could lose it. These 2 companies could be said to be "responsible" for an unfathomable amount of financial transactions, so they probably don't feel that they can slack off in their relentless efforts to minimize controversy.

Thus, VISA and Mastercard have always been especially harsh on pornography. The vast majority of the commercial porn industry, especially before the web rose in popularity, revolved around real-life actors. So when these companies came up with policies about what kind of "content" was acceptable to sell, they implicitly formulated them with respect to real-life situations. Keep in mind that depictions of sex and violence are outright illegal in many parts of the world, and even safe and consensual BDSM is a crime in most places if the police are prejudiced enough to try to prosecute it. Why wouldn't they want to avoid financial liability for real-life porn that involves depiction of physical abuse, when they obviously have no way to judge whether it's a faked effect (like ketchup instead of blood) or a real act, and BDSM porn is known to depict real acts? And why wouldn't they object to real-life porn that has bestiality or child porn, when that obviously constitutes abuse? In any case, VISA and Mastercard's policies were mostly based in reason and respect for international law. After all, there is still a worldwide market for these materials, and it needs to be taken seriously. In particular, those who trade in depictions of children and animals who are unable to consent, sometimes even the brutal murder of animals, financially support or at least morally support the horrific creation of such material, the existence of which continues to traumatize many victims.

That said, porn isn't just 3D, it's also 2D, and not everyone can recognize the difference between fiction and reality. Perhaps thanks to some well-known classic literature with elements of fetishism such as Venus in Furs, I don't believe there has ever been a criminal prosecution in a Western country for purely written depictions of sexual and physical abuse that equates them with financially supporting the acts they depict. Text-based femdom is subject to the same common sense which tells us that a movie which depicts a brutal murder isn't equivalent to condoning murders. Overall, the written word is treated differently--as connected to the realm of ideas which are by themselves not crimes--than visual material. But the same can't be said for fictional visual material. Because "porn" can sometimes be defined as a reference to depictions that's independent of how those depictions are created, there's a kind of legal theory that treats scratches on a piece of paper as equivalent to photographs of horrific real-life crimes. And there have been scattered cases around the world where people were prosecuted for possession of kinky drawn porn, or even just non-pornographic manga with fan service, under laws intended to clamp down on a criminal industry.

Japan's creative industry has fiercely protected its 2D artists from arbitrary censorship for decades, and even strongly objected to occasional attempts of outside bodies such as UN organizations to pressure Japan to legally enforce censorship of "explicit" content in their domestic manga industry, such as perceived sexualization, groping, or anything that Western sensibilities object to. The Japanese 2D porn scene has its roots in the doujin scene, where people drew their fantasies without holding back (other than adding mosaics/bars over exposed genitals in accordance with Japanese law) and printed them to be sold at twice-a-year conventions. Around the turn of the millennium, that industry took to the web, and not only could people sell and buy physical erotic doujin magazines, they could sell and buy digital-only doujin works on sites like DLsite, and they expanded beyond manga into voice works, CG sets, video games, and so on. While Japan's corporate erotic industries are regulated by various entities, such as EOCS for eroge which requires games be submitted to them for advance approval, DLsite doesn't face quite the same level of restrictions, as works are speedily reviewed by DLsite staff. The popular Japanese artist site Pixiv barely ever regulates its users' erotic art, except to force them to re-upload it with mosaics. That's in contrast with the English-speaking internet, which lacked a central online marketplace for 2D porn until the VN industry pushed Steam to open its doors to erotic games, and even then they ban many games for their content; even when you compare artist sites, DeviantArt censors far more content than Pixiv, as it doesn't allow depictions of male erections, sexual contact or explicit sex acts, or characters who could be interpreted somehow as underage, and has its own volunteer army of Christians and porn haters who try to report as many fetish artists as possible. Well, anyone who's familiar with Japanese otaku culture probably understands that for better or worse, their attitude toward sex is different from that of many Western countries.

The Duopoly's Oppressive Influence on Artists

Patreon was created in 2013. At first, it was relatively censorship-free. I remember that Fenoxo, creator of Corruptions of Champions, was a top-ranked creator; that game included significant amounts of furry, latex, bestiality, futanari, mind control, rape, and of course, corruption fetish content. In truth, porn had never actually been officially allowed on Patreon. But for a while, the company clearly just wasn't sure where to draw the line when it came to how to define sexual content or not, so they left it alone.

However, all that changed in November 2017, when they outright banned a wide range of kinks. The major ones that everyone noticed were rape, incest, bestiality, and underage characters. Guro was also banned. And they interpreted these terms broadly. Some creators fled to SubscribeStar, but SubscribeStar doesn't accept as many types of payment methods as Patreon. Many creators, such as Fenoxo, stayed on by adjusting the content they produced. Half a year later, as a new ban wave swept the platform, Patreon staff confirmed that it was under pressure from payment processors to 'review content'. And then in 2019, Patreon had a major crackdown on hypnosis and mind control kink, because they defined it as a type of rape.

Now, let's look at the Japanese side. Japan was slow to understand Patreon's appeal. Due to Japan's cultural differences, there was some initial resistance to both the crowdfunding and subscription models; many people had a kind of right-wing mindset where they said that creators should just create a product and sell it rather than "beg for money". But that changed in April 2018, when DLsite launched a sister site called Ci-en, pronounced "shien" which means "support/aid". It was a smart move, because many creators already had DLsite accounts to sell their works, so it wasn't hard to expand that to Ci-en and let them set up plans to receive money from fans or just blog about whatever they wanted. A lot of ambitious femdom projects started up around this time, with the S na Kanojo-based game Escalation! among them. With Ci-en's explosion in popularity, two Japanese rivals emerged in a matter of weeks: Fantia and Pixiv's Fanbox.

Fanbox stood out for one clear reason: it's the only site that adopted the Patreon model. Ci-en has both free and paid plans, but treats each month-tier as a kind of purchase, where you unlock all posts at that tier for that month permanently. Fantia has more variety of payments options, but is also more focused around per-month purchases, and lacks a free tier. Fanbox, in contrast, creates a "box" which creators add to periodically, which is completely accessible once you pay for it, for as long as you pay for it, for the tier that you pay for; in other words, it's Japanese Patreon. And as you might expect, it's proven more popular than its rivals.

Just like Patreon, Fanbox also spent a few years relatively censorship-free, its "honeymoon" of sorts. But recently, the international credit card companies have come for Pixiv.

Changes at Pixiv in Late 2022

In mid-November 2022, Pixiv suddenly announced that they would be making changes in December to their Terms of Use to "clarify" what kind of content is not acceptable. They were open about the fact that international credit card companies had pressured them to take action. In fact, they didn't yet reveal what the specific changes would be… this was effectively an announcement about an announcement.

For anyone who had any doubt: Japanese people are far from ignorant about how their views on sex differ from Western countries. In fact, many Japanese people, especially those who appreciate otaku culture or adult content, are aware of and strongly oppose "political correctness" (ポリコレ/porikore) in Western countries. (Most of their impression of it comes from Western cinema, games, and comics, where they feel that these stories are distorted for the worse by the writers' need to adjust story elements, and in particular limit women's cuteness or sexiness.) Japanese people also understand that there's a faction in the West that wants to censor otaku culture. Furthermore, there's an overwhelming consensus among Japanese people that drawings cannot hurt anyone, and should not be criminalized.

And so the Japanese public's response to this announcement was, as expected, one of displeasure. There was a lot of discussion in Twitter about how tyrannical international credit card companies are, and it wasn't the first time such discussions had taken place, as plenty of other Japanese businesses have had disagreements with the international credit card companies in the past over the sale of erotic art. The magazine Bunshun, which is well-known for its investigative journalism, reported on how the credit card companies had been on a hair trigger ever since the Pornhub controversy in late 2020, and that because they recently discovered Fanbox had been used as a front by some Chinese vendors to covertly sell child porn and necrophilia porn hidden within lengthy videos, they were watching to make sure Pixiv came down hard on illegal content and were prepared to even ban Pixiv's entire parent company if Pixiv's actions didn't satisfy them. It wasn't only Mastercard, which is known to be a bit more strict than VISA, but also VISA and JCB (Japan Credit Bureau, an international credit card company based in Japan) who were likely to do so.

Finally, in early December, Pixiv unveiled the changes they would make to their Terms of Use. First, they distinguished between 禁止商品, content that would result in an immediate ban (which includes child porn), and 要修正商品, content that would just result in being designated as private/unmonetized until altered and re-approved by Pixiv (which includes all non-photorealistic drawings). This kind of difference in treatment is obvious, but Pixiv laying it out clearly also probably helped reassure some artists that they wouldn't be treated as criminals by Pixiv just because a "problematic" drawing was detected on their Fanbox, as well as reassure credit card companies that truly evil content would receive more than a slap on the wrist in response. Second, they add separate pages with clarifying examples of what kinds of situations are considered problematic. The key point is that their 要修正商品 page cites "sexual exploitation or sexual abuse of a minor (*1), incest, bestiality, rape (or any other non-consensual sexual behavior), non-consensual mutilation of a person or body part, [and] any other content deemed inappropriate by pixiv". Furthermore, it's clarified that this content is judged by the holistic situation presented by the image, title, tags, caption, and description; therefore, text-based context may matter as much as the art itself.

Up until this point, Pixiv had been vague about what content wasn't allowed on Fanbox and other services which utilized credit cards; they effectively just said you couldn't post "illegal" content. They were probably reluctant to tell Japanese users "look at all the fetishes that Western credit card companies consider 'illegal' to draw!" and just hoped it wouldn't result in a problem. However, as Bunsun reported, they had seen frequent cases over the years where these credit companies refused to settle payments for specific content on their platforms, and now, the credit card companies had taken the initiative to more or less band together and force Pixiv to spell out what they considered problematic in their Terms of Use.

In any case, to those of us who already were aware of what fetishes credit card companies hate most, the list didn't contain any real surprises. The real question was… to what extent would these new rules be enforced? Were they just lip service to the credit card companies who'd held them to the fire, or would they really make sure Pixiv banned every piece of incest fan art they could find on Fanbox?

Many creators held their breath around this time, and prepared to be banned when the changes took effect in mid-December. negisho, a femdom artist who both draws and digitally renders situations with muscular boys who're tied up and beaten by sexy older women, was particularly certain that he'd be censored, since he had the triple-whammy of somewhat photorealistic 3D renders, underage characters, and violence. As it turns out, his Fanbox wasn't censored. But some of his Booth works were, and out of fear, he moved to Fantia anyway. Another femdom artist, makin, creates only 2D art, but a lot of them feature loli characters and incest, so he made them all private in preparation for expected censorship… but when it didn't come, he just un-privated them in mid-January, and they're still up. So for the most part, what people feared didn't happen. However, it's true that a number of artists who produce 3D renders were targeted in a wave of suspensions that unfolded in late December. Still, overall, the impression most people had is that Pixiv's rule changes weren't being enforced strictly, and if they were enforced, it was mostly accounts who produced 3D renders that were targeted, not traditional 2D artists. There was a collective sigh of relief. And I'm sure Pixiv was happy, too, that the controversy had died down.

2D Artists Later Targeted

Unfortunately, the story didn't end there. After an apparent pause of a few months, a number of 2D femdom artists on Pixiv have had their Fanboxes targeted in a new wave of censorship.

To be clear, this is what happens: an artist is suddenly told that their Fanbox has been suspended for problematic content or have a number of their posts set to "private", which won't be visible to the public until they manually correct the problematic posts. In the case of Fanbox suspensions, they're not always told exactly which posts are problematic, so they have to somewhat guess what's problematic and make a large number of changes before applying for re-approval by Pixiv staff. They may also be told they need to remove external links such as ones to Google Drive.

Here are a list of some of affected artists, and what they revealed about the circumstances behind their account's censorship.

Miginohito Mitsuru: In March 2023, several posts set private. Reason suspected by artist: depictions of young male/female characters. Result: moved to Ci-en. (Note: The image used in this blog post is taken from their work.)

Luster Don (commissions both art and adult videos): In April 2023, he reported that he noticed some of his older posts with apparently NG (banned) keywords in their tags had been made private by Pixiv. Result: he reworded the text to not have those NG words, and re-submitted them. In fact, he had already taken the step of moving his photographic content off Fanbox onto other platforms, to preempt the possibility of a mixed fight being judged as 禁止商品 and having his entire Pixiv account banned as a result.

Kia-shi: In May 2023, their Fanbox was suspended. No specific reason/art cited by Pixiv. Reason suspected by artist: oneshota and/or oyoufuku akachan (a male character trapped inside tight clothes worn by a larger female character and pressed against her body). Result: deleted all art with those 2 fetishes, registered for Fantia, and posted that art on Fantia; continually operates both Fantia and Fanbox accounts but posts less art on Fanbox.

Robo Mikan: In May 2023, their Fanbox was suspended. Stated reason: there was a problem with the top page. Result: he changed all the images and tags displayed on the top page, and it was unsuspended. He suspects that loli content was the source of the problem (since he's a lolidom artist) but is unclear about what exactly caused it, so he created a Fantia account too and continues to operate both it and Fanbox.

Uramacoto (femsub focus artist, but lots of yuri femdom): In May 2023, their Fanbox was suspended. Stated reason: problems with their cover image, portfolio, plan cover images, and perhaps other unstated reasons; they'd also previously had a few posts flagged due to the need to revise the text or tags. Result: they changed everything that was designated problematic, but in an effort to avoid further suspensions, they researched what other people advised they do on Twitter/5ch, and in the end, they took the drastic step of censoring all adult terminology in text-based elements of their pasts and future posts (with the ● symbol, such as ア●ルト instead of アダルト): namely titles, tags, captions, and descriptions--they even took the effort to censor terms like bondage, S-onna, netorare, and seme. Note: they didn't censor the actual Japanese text within the images, just the post metadata.

Murasaki Gankyuu Suisou (SM-kei circle with a lot of heavy femdom works): In May 2023, or possibly early June 2023, their Fanbox was suspended. They fixed it in mid-June. No reason provided for why, though MGS does have a lot of violent content; if they had to censor any of it, they would've said so, so perhaps they just reworded some text or thickened some mosaics.

Philia (Korean femdom artist): In September 2023, his Fanbox was suspended. Stated reason: insufficient mosaics, external links to Google Drive. The NTR-themed CG set "Perfect Girlfriend" was also not allowed by them for some reason. Result: He did what Fanbox told him to do, and his Fanbox was restored. "Perfect Girlfriend" was apparently canceled.

My best guess is that around May 19, Pixiv automatically scanned the text-based metadata of the posts of all Fanbox creators for certain keywords associated with the content that they'd explicitly banned the previous December. And for accounts with a significant number of flagged posts, they suspended the accounts and told them they needed to fix this, and once they did so, restored their accounts. It's possible that merely changing the text would've been enough to satisfy Pixiv, but some creators like Kia-shi were more cautious now that they were under a microscope, and chose to delete the offending posts altogether. (In general, they're cautious because Pixiv has warned that repeat offenders may be outright banned.) That said, there are other cases of censorship too, but it's rare to see creators want to discuss it in detail, in part because of the shame/stigma of being told your fetishes are problematic, so in the end, the sample size I've examined is too small and I can't be confident about any of my conclusions.

Conclusions

It doesn't seem that many femdom artists have been affected by Fanbox's censorship… at least, for now. And in most cases, they've been able to make trivial fixes that let them stay on the platform. This is good news. But ultimately, the future is unknown, and the tension between Pixiv and credit card companies will probably remain for a while.

So, who are the villains in this story? Well, the criminals who misused Fanbox as cover to peddle illicit materials, obviously. Aside from them… I don't know. I don't resent any of the fundamental forces that sustain this dynamic which represses freedom of expression in erotic art. In particular, the credit card companies just want to protect themselves legally, and they have every right to be upset when the sites they partner with end up exploited by criminals. At the same time, some of these criminals are very clever, and I don't blame a site like Pixiv for not being able to detect all hidden content within videos sold on Fanbox, any more than I blame YouTube for every copyright notice that's filed against its videos. (Note: It's not like I believe Pixiv couldn't have done any better. But hindsight is always 20/20, and they're clearly putting in a real effort now.)

Villains aside, if I had to pick who else I dislike most, it's the people who embrace the censorship that results from this complex legal dynamic and falsely moralize it. For example, the current Patreon moderation team doesn't just ban certain fetishes, it outright morally condemns them in the warnings it sends to creators: "Per our guidelines, we have zero tolerance for the glorification of sexual violence, and this includes depictions of sexualized minors, non-consensual sex, incest, and bestiality." They actually implicitly accuse these artists, whose fantasies hurt no one, of encouraging violence. Fortunately, most organizations don't feel the same way. Steam famously has a single official policy toward its erotic games: they only ban what's "illegal" (read: they also follow guidelines similar to the credit card companies') or "trolling". Although they've received some flak because their moderation team treats all high school characters (no matter how curvy, no matter what school year, no matter whether they're stated to be 18 or not) as children, they've at least been largely consistent and refused to moralize their judgments; they even apologized for their premature ban of Chaos;Head Noah which led to fan outcry. Meanwhile, Japanese companies not only don't moralize this issue, they resist censorship as best they can. Even Pixiv, which was placed under a lot of pressure last December, has only censored a handful of 2D accounts that essentially verbally self-confessed to the content that credit card companies object to; there are countless femdom creators on Fanbox who I didn't mention, because they haven't encountered any censorship.

What's kind of ironic, actually, is that this past summer, Rium (Msize) started a Fanbox… less than a year after the changes in its Terms of Use caused Fanbox to lose face compared to Ci-en and Fantia. I hope it works out well for him.

Update on January 22, 2024

On January 17, 2024, Pixiv Fanbox enacted a new ban (well, force-hidden) wave, and this one covered a broader set of terms found in tags and titles.

There's been a lot of talk about it on Japanese Twitter. Tweets like this one list examples of all the terms that have been newly declared unacceptable. In short, the terms are all associated with any of 3 categories: non-con, underage, and incest. Previously, the main banned terms had been the ones associated with underage character depictions, and only a small subset of terms had been banned. Now, a broader set of terms has been used, and they expanded into two other categories. So for example, if a Fanbox fetish artist draws erotic art and uses the word "forced" (犯され) in the image's title, it was be force-hidden in the recent wave. And any erotic work tagged with family terms like "older sister" is unacceptable, which would even included, for example, an image of an "older sister" having sex with a complete stranger (just the two of them).

It's worth noting, though, that Fanbox's censorship wave does not instantly ban anyone, it just hides their works by default and forces them to make some kind of "change" before it can be un-hidden. This means that simply removing the offending title/tags, or renaming that with a censor such as レ〇プ instead of レイプ (rape), appears to be enough for their works to be restored. Same as what happened in last May's censorship wave.

Anyway, while a lot of creators are disturbed by what has happened, most of them appear to be sticking with Fanbox. I think the main draw of Fanbox for a lot of creators is that foreign patrons can't access Fantia or SubscribeStar with their credit cards, Patreon censors even harder, and Ci-en's subscription model and features are more limited and awkward.

Side Talk

This post took a while. I had to change my focus and rewrite a large part of it, and yet I still find myself wondering if I rambled on too much about details most people don't care about. I tried to minimize links to Japanese sources, though it's worth noting that if you know Japanese and are interested, the Bunshun article is worth reading. In any case, MGS is the only circle I'm truly excited to see more works from these days, so I hope that they can avoid censorship when they try to publish Femme Fatale on DLsite. They seem to be approaching the point where they can put out a trial version...

Lately, I've been trying to play some of the Western erotic game community's femdom games. It's been interesting. Too many of them are slow-paced VNs, with characters I don't find very likable. I always wish more English language devs would create fun character dynamics like the kind in Crazy GameMaster: The 7 Crystals. I also wish they would just finish their games. Too many of these devs stop developing their main game when they're close to done with it, in order to develop their next game in advance with the hope that they won't lose patrons once they finish their main game. I don't like to play unfinished games, but I rarely have a choice here.

I hope my next post won't take nearly a full year to put out. I have many ideas for posts that excite me more than this post, but I prioritized this post because I felt like the subject matter was more time-sensitive.

[rz-jocelyn]

Hello! Firstly, thank you so much for sharing content, etc, about Ryuji's activities. As a new fan of his, your posts helped me a lot.

I really want to watch Ryuji's series/movies/musicals but I don't know where to start. Japanese isn't a problem and I don't mind paying to watch either as I'm very willing to support artists I like, but most sites are region restricted. Do I need to use a vpn? And which international payment options are available? I tried subscribing to a Japanese streaming site using mastercard before, but it wouldn't accept it for some reason...

I'm really sorry if this is a tough question, but I'm really hoping you could help me out!

Hiya! :D

Thank you for your lovely message! I'm glad that you've been enjoying my posts ♥

ABOUT VPN

Unfortunately, you are right about most official Japanese sites being region-locked. Personally, I think having a VPN installed is really convenient in this regard.

List of VPNs that you could try: SoftEther, NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Surfshark, TunnelBear

Please note that these are just suggestions and there are also other VPNs out in the market. Each VPN has its advantages and disadvantages, so do select the one that is the safest and most suitable for you :D

Also, some sites can detect VPN, so having one might not guarantee access to all sites.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

Most Common Payment Options: Credit card (Visa, Mastercard), Paypal

Payment options depend on the site themselves as well as the options available depending on the region you're accessing the site from.

In some cases, even though direct payment doesn't work, the site might have alternative payment options that you can use. For example, Amazon Prime Video Japan also has the Amazon Gift Card option.

STAGES/MOVIES/TV DRAMAS

Ryuji has appeared in quite a few musicals, stages, TV dramas and movies over the years. His Japanese Wikipedia page provides quite the comprehensive list on his projects (and for projects with sequels, it also provides the sequence of the projects).

For his Japanese Wikipedia page, please refer to this link: HERE

Theater Complex

This site offers a selection of Japanese musicals/stages for online streaming. This is also one of the sites that offer live streaming.

The site can be accessed: HERE

DMM.TV

Similar to Theater Complex, this site offers a selection of Japanese musicals/stages for online streaming. Additionally, it also offers TV dramas and movies. It is also one of the sites that offer live streaming.

The site can be accessed: HERE

Amazon Prime Video Japan

This site offers a selection of TV dramas and movies for online streaming. Some of Ryuji's musicals/stages are also available here.

The site can be accessed: HERE

MUSIC

In addition to his acting career, Ryuji also has a substantial music career where he sings and writes songs. Ryuji is currently a member of two music projects: The Brow Beat and ZIPANG OPERA.

The Brow Beat

Produced by HAKUEI (PENICILLIN), this is his band project where he's the main vocalist and song lyric writer. Ryuji has also composed songs for the band.

Twitter: @/The_Brow_Beat 

Fanclub: HERE 

YouTube: HERE

Spotify: HERE

Apple Music: HERE

ZIPANG OPERA

A group attached to LDH Records, it is a dance and vocal performance unit comprising of 2.5D actors, including Ryuji. He has also written song lyrics for this group.

Twitter: @/zipang_opera

YouTube: HERE

Spotify: HERE

Apple Music: HERE

TikTok: HERE

Discord: HERE

BLU-RAY/DVD/CD

Many of Ryuji's musicals/stages, TV drama and movies are also available on Blu-ray/DVD. Additionally, he also releases physical singles/albums with both his music projects as well as with acting projects where he also sings.

Physical releases often include bonus content and/or physical bonuses that aren't available on streaming/download sites.

However, please double-check the region of the physical releases to ensure that the region matches your device. There are also devices that you can purchase to play physical releases that are incompatible with your region.

Examples of International Sites: CDJapan, Silkroad Store, Amazon, Animate International

For other sites that may not have an international shipping option, you can use a proxy service to purchase from the sites. For a suggested list of proxy services available for Japan, please refer to this link: HERE

Similar to the VPNs, these are just suggestions and there are also other proxy services out in the market. Each proxy service has its advantages and disadvantages.

Additionally, in some cases, using a proxy might be cheaper and more convenient than using the international shipping option offered by the sites, so do check out the option that might be more suitable for you :D

SATO RYUJI'S OFFICIAL FANCLUB

Ryuji, himself, also has a personal fanclub that fans can join. To register for a membership, please refer to this link: HERE

Other Official Accounts

Personal Twitter: @/ryuji7117

Official Staff Twitter: @/satoryujiST

Personal IG: ryuji_japan

Blog: HERE

Hope this helps, and welcome to the fun of loving and supporting Ryuji together! ♥

[thistransient]

- In addition to complaining about it, occasionally I do attempt to improve my lot in life: beyond the new bicycling endeavour, I have also finally extricated myself from my Chinese tutoring (under the guise of it being temporary, but really I think the relationship has run its course), and continued going to the “rope jam” evening I tried out last month. It was very rewarding the second time, persistence pays off! However, it came to light that the host also organises a monthly artist networking night, which at first I felt unqualified for when I looked at the sign-up form (I’m not a professional by any means), but was encouraged to go regardless. Sure. Okay. But one is recommended to hand out business cards? Dress smart casual? Have some sort of established social media? I only made an IG account a few months ago, with the sole purpose of looking at plastic surgeon results (I do NOT need another app to scroll endlessly on). I have nothing resembling a brand name, I do have a lot of imposter feelings because I never went to art school (backstory: my mother is a professional artist so I grew up around it, and was on the verge of applying for an art program for uni, but ended up getting a scholarship from a different place for foreign languages and settled for that instead). I am gonna do this though, and see what comes of it. I’ve had the vague intent for years and years to round up all my projects and make some kind of proper portfolio, maybe I’ll be motivated to follow through at long last?

-  I’ve decided I am really truly done with taking language class just to stay in the country. I am going to leave and come back on a visa-free entry, and optimally find a job within 90 days, but if it takes longer than that, so be it. The destination is...*drumroll*...

Seoul. No I did not see that coming either. With Japan being ruled out on account of flight prices, and my Chinese visa being invalidated, I decided it was down to Bangkok or Manila (and possibly Palawan, as a friend from my Australia days is there visiting family). However, Bangkok simply did not spark joy, and all of the cheapest flights from Manila were red-eye (I refuse to do the sleep deprivation hangovers anymore). At some point it dawned on me that separate budget airlines to and from Incheon could be an option. My adventure/ordeal in Korea is the whole reason for the founding of this blog, and it’s been ten years since I left (without cancelling my phone plan, hopefully that doesn’t cause issues but I have a new passport now anyways). I feel it’s only fitting to return for some closure (emotionally, not of the phone plan), and experience everything anew as my current self (vs. severely depressed while working for a tyrannical hagwon boss). I was a little miffed to discover the government has implemented an “Electronic Travel Authorisation” that one must apply for to enter- it’s not a visa, and yet there’s a fee, but it’s good for two years? Whatever.

I was going to lament my dilemma of whether to keep my current guesthouse booking or try to find something cheaper on Airbnb, but in writing about it I’ve convinced myself it’s better to stick with the guesthouse- I’m not keen by any means on staying in hostel dorms at this point in my life, but I’d still like some measure of socialising, and it’s in a nice location near Gyeongbokgung Palace. I just want to wander around slowly taking blatantly touristy photos of things, and eat some good food!

[officialtayley]

Long post alert:

Related to the 2 anons that mentioned touring in Asia. I just wanted to bring up some reasons why artists don’t tour the region. And this is not a knock to any of the countries at all. Because Non-US artists have to follow rules when doing shows in the US as well. I just wanted to shed some light on a very complicated process of ‘doing business overseas’. I don’t know about all of Asia. But I know that Indonesia, Japan, and Philippines in particular have very strict stipulations related to their artist/performer visas. There’s a lot of paperwork involved with applying for visas. Some of the visas stipulate: limits to the number of days in the country (some as short as 5 days), how many ppl on the touring team that can come, how much equipment can be brought in, how much money that can be made on the tour, and how much (if any) merch can be sold. Then you have to add in the increased cost for travel. Also, the artist has to purchase extra insurance to cover their health, liability, and equip while traveling internationally. Then there’s the customs taxes and fees. So up to half of the gross earnings may be taken off the top in traveling costs, visas, and customs fees. And that doesn’t consider the normal cost of producing the tour, venues, paying agents, managers, label, musicians, and all the other tour employees. If they don’t follow the regulations they can be deported and banned from entering the country. So it’s very expensive and risky (based on tix sales) to perform shows in other counties. I’m sure management and legal likely weigh the costs and risk to determine if it is worth it. That’s usually why artists do opt for festivals for international shows because a lot of the logistics mentioned above are handled by the festival and not the artist’s team. To tour in UK, IE, and EU the visa requirements are a bit different. I also have to mention that touring as a whole has become incredibly more expense since the the pandemic. And they may have thought that touring with TSwift next summer would cover the mainland Europe portion. Even though I understand all of the above, I do still feel badly for the fans from certain parts of the world that never or rarely get shows performed near them.

well they need to rethink that ONLY touring w taylor swift thing cause everyone was and still is mad 😭 but yes this makes more sense than lack of popularity cause they're not unpopular there since they have been to asia every era. europe was just odd cause they usually tour the u.k. & the rest of europe like together since logistically it makes sense so it was all just a really odd decision

[usedpidemo]

Do you think K-pop concert ticket prices are too expensive now? What do you think should be the threshold, and what can be done to give all fans, whether casual or diehard, a great experience?

I could go on an entire rant/tangent on what I think concerts as a whole should be like, but it would be the length of a regular fic, so I'll spare you every issue and thought I have about them. I've only been to one concert in my whole life, so I don't have the experience or depth that other concertgoers have, but let's just say the streaming and COVID economy fucked up everything.

Prices: I believe the terrible royalties from streaming, as well as the increased demand for live shows in general has caused these ticket prices to skyrocket. Like you can't just buy a ticket for a decent seat for less than $70 now, that shit only gives you nosebleed seats. Not to mention the deliberate collusion of scalpers by ticketing sites. Those resale tickets and third parties directly cooperate with Ticketmaster so they can punch a bit more money from consumers. And don't even get me started with Dynamic Pricing and those terrible service fees. I'm fortunate enough to live in a country where such things don't exist, but with HYBE openly expressing their intention to enable dynamic pricing and finding alternatives in places where it's not available, you can bet they'll find a way to punch up the prices too.

I understand why they charge this much. Fans will go out to see their favorite artist, regardless of how much they complain about it. FOMO. You don't know if they'll come back to your country or city, or when. Not to mention, the typical K-pop concert is a much grander production than, say, your average pop star. You got backup dancers, large stages, numerous costume changes, sometimes a live band, and of course, multiple members with dozens of staff managing a group. Concerts are the biggest revenue/income drive now for a majority of artists because of how music is distributed today, so they have to break even. Doing world tours are costly; consider the VISA and other costs on a country-to-country basis. No wonder they'd rather tour the US and Japan only to save a few thousand dollars.

It's difficult to gauge the threshold because popularity and demand is fickle, especially in K-pop. However, if there has to be a limit, I personally would stop at around $1000-sub range. There's not a damn singer or artist on planet earth, dead or alive, that's worth over a $1000 ticket. Even MJ. The economy isn't looking good, inflation keeps jumping year by year, and concerts have become basically rich people havens too.

Personally, I do think it'll eventually die out. There's a touring oversaturation right now that it dries people out and we have to pick and choose who we want to attend.

There's a few things I really want to see happen in the future, ideally:

• Rookies shouldn't be pricier than their seniors. I don't care if its NewJeans, IVE, or Le sserafim, they really shouldn't be more expensive than say, a 3-4 year old group. It's ridiculous how NMIXX and IVE were more expensive than The Boyz or ATEEZ.

• Announcing ticket sale literally right after the tour announcement. This is something I absolutely hate. Why are you selling tickets for a show six-eight months away like two weeks after announcing it? Fucking insane! It gives us little to no prep time to gather up resources and plan accordingly. Also, what if something happens that causes a concert to be canceled or delayed? It'll be much harder for us to get refunds back, which is exactly why they pull this shit off. Normalize selling tickets at most two months-a month before the show.

• Make the ticket prices worth it. This is my biggest gripe with concerts, more than the prices: that you're basically paying for the seats and nothing else. I'm not gonna lie, I likely wouldn't have gone out to my one and only concert if I wasn't guaranteed anything else besides a nice seat. Pre-pandemic, the price of the ticket I bought would have given me a group/solo pic with the group and some other cool perks like maybe signed merch. Now? Most concerts give you the show and nothing more. You have to justify paying that hefty tag beyond just a close view of your favorite artist. I remember when pop stars like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd had photo-ops before the show for those VIP tivkets. COVID ruined all of that. It's such a damn shame, because at best, you're getting soundcheck, which I'm not fond of, in my opinion. It forces people to bait for interactions and not enjoy themselves during the show cuz they aren't guaranteed artist engagement (though this won't really change anything if we're being real lol). I personally would be a lot more comfortable and have a greater time if I knew I could greet them before or after the show instead of trying too hard to get their attention.

[mybeingthere]

Yuko Shimizu (清水裕子) is a Japanese illustrator based in New York City whose work combines Japanese heritage with contemporary reference points. Works by Shimizu address a range of serious issues including sex, race, and cultural identity, but also can be light and whimsical.

Shimizu was born in Tokyo, Japan, and grew up primarily in Kanagawa Prefecture. At the age of eleven, her father's company moved the family to the United States where they settled in Westchester County, New York and would live there for four years before returning to Japan. According to Shimizu, attending middle school in the US encouraged a sense of individuality in her that she would take back to Japan and that was not customary for women in the Japanese culture of the time.

Having a great appreciation for Japanese comics, Shumizu imagined becoming a manga artist as a young girl. However, when it came time for university, her parents dissuaded her from following an art education and she attended Waseda University in Tokyo with a major in Faculty of Commerce. She graduated in 1988 as valedictorian] Her first job was in the PR department of a large Japanese corporation, headquartered in Tokyo.

After many years of working in PR Shimizu realised that women in the firm who had been there for multiple decades were not advancing and decided to pursue an MFA in illustration in the United States. As a non-U.S. resident she needed to prove she had enough money for four years of tuition and living expenses, and saved for two years in order to have enough money to apply. After eleven years with the PR firm and enough money in the bank to obtain a visa, Shimizu traveled to New York and interviewed at Pratt, Parsons and the School of Visual Arts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuko_Shimizu_%28illustrator%29

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

Wasn’t the Asian leg scheduled at short notice due to COVID? Correct me if I’m wrong but most countries in South East Asia didn’t open up to international travel without quarantine until early 2022. Some like Japan not until the last quarter of the year. It would be impossible to schedule a tour when you don’t even know if the artist could visit. Same with the US and European tour this year. They were probably scheduled 2 years ago when there was still uncertainty about dates for South East Asia. COVID restrictions were not that long ago in terms of the global touring schedule. It’s a bit ungenerous to imply otherwise.

I can accept that the USA and Europe legs of the tour had fewer logistical issues because borders opened sooner.

But the rest of what I said applies. There was no merch for LTWT22 Asia, nor any apologies/ acknowledgements despite many fans’ asking. Louis did tour in Indonesia and Philippines in 2022, and that was a good time to check out visa requirements for the rest of Asia for 2023.

If things fell through at the last minute, Asian fans who made plans and spent money to travel are owed a properly worded explanation, not just a tweet.

[gokite]

The 8 most famous Landmarks in Germany

Germany, situated in Central Europe, boasts a rich tapestry of history, culture, and innovation. From the medieval charm of Bavaria to the modernity of Berlin, it offers a diverse landscape. Renowned for precision engineering, its industries drive the global economy. With a love for literature, music, and hearty cuisine, Germany warmly welcomes visitors to explore its picturesque landscapes, historic landmarks, and vibrant cities.

Here are eight of the most famous landmarks in Germany:

1. Brandenburg Gate, Berlin:

Perhaps the most iconic symbol of Berlin and Germany, the Brandenburg Gate stands as a symbol of peace and unity. Built in the late 18th century, it has witnessed significant historical events, including the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also Read: Azerbaijan visa

2. Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria:

Known as the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle, Neuschwanstein is a fairy-tale castle nestled in the Bavarian Alps. It's one of the most photographed landmarks in Germany, attracting millions of visitors each year. Also Read: south korea visa

3. Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom):

This magnificent Gothic cathedral dominates the skyline of Cologne. Its twin spires soar above the city, and its intricate architecture and stunning stained glass windows make it one of the most impressive cathedrals in Europe. Also Read: Japan visa

4. Reichstag Building, Berlin:

Home to the German parliament, the Reichstag is an architectural masterpiece with a glass dome offering panoramic views of Berlin. It's a symbol of Germany's democracy and history, having undergone significant reconstruction after World War II. Also Read: Egypt visa

5. Berlin Wall:

While not a single structure, the remnants of the Berlin Wall serve as a powerful reminder of the city's divided past. Sections of the wall can still be seen throughout Berlin, including the famous East Side Gallery, where artists from around the world have created murals on its remaining segments. Also Read: Bangladesh visa

6. Heidelberg Castle:

Perched above the picturesque town of Heidelberg, this Renaissance castle is renowned for its stunning views of the Neckar Valley. Though partially in ruins, it remains an emblem of Germany's romantic past and is a popular tourist destination. Also Read: Belgium Visa

7. Hohenzollern Castle:

Located atop Mount Hohenzollern in the Swabian Alps, this fairytale-like castle is the ancestral seat of the Prussian royal family. With its hilltop location and commanding views, it's one of the most visited castles in Germany. Also Read: Greece visa

8. Nuremberg Castle:

Dating back over a thousand years, Nuremberg Castle is one of the most important medieval fortresses in Europe. It overlooks the historic city of Nuremberg and contains several impressive structures, including the Imperial Castle and the Sinwell Tower. Also Read: Norway visa

Conclusion

In conclusion, Germany's iconic landmarks, from the historic Brandenburg Gate to the enchanting Neuschwanstein Castle, epitomize its rich heritage and cultural diversity. A visit promises awe-inspiring experiences, but remember to check Germany visa requirements for seamless travel. Explore, indulge, and immerse yourself in the wonders of this captivating nation.

[neilujen]

jealousy, jealousy?

what are you gonna do if your own brother is at the top of the list of people who envies you?

i’m saving up to go to japan as i will watch my favorite artist and also go to the country that is on my bucket list. two birds in one stone eh? already secured my concert &plane tix, and hotel. visa is the last thing i have to secure so i could finally be at ease about my travel. last friday, before going on a local trip at my favorite place in the country, i planned on applying for a visa, but i wasn’t able to come until their cutoff time, it was 1 hour earlier than what’s on their site. anyway i took my time to breathe as i was pissed and i don’t want that to ruin my trip. i know that a trip with my bestfriend will always be a good one, no matter how many shitty stuff occurs, we can turn the table around, so i thought of focusing in the trip first instead, eat dinner then meet up at the bus station.

while i was at the place i love, a specific spot in the city where it feels home for someone like me, where there’s beauty in chaos, i received a message from my younger brother. he told me what our older brother said about me not being able to submit my files… he said ‘what do you call that? deserve??’ and my younger brother just cursed him, idk if jokingly tho but maybe.

i always felt it in my bones tho. that he wasn’t happy about the things i am able to do. things i can do with my money. it’s not my fault that i earn more than him. idgaf on stepping out of my comfort zone, give 6 hours of my life for travel time, 2x a week in office work, as long as i am paid well and be able to live comfortably. am i at fault for still having money after giving my share at our house? dude if u want to do what i am capable of then maybe step up your game. he always thinks that it is unfair that all of his money goes to house expenses, but he’s building a motorcycle without hearing any word from me. i totally don’t care since that’s his money, he can do whatever he wants. but i couldn’t understand why is he so envious??? is he going to be satisfied if i pour all of my money at home? i stopped pushing him to work in tech (which is his degree) as he doesn’t like working outside of his comfort zone. if he has always been in tech, he would’ve been earning my more than me.

i always try and comprehend what’s wrong with me or if my actions affect others negatively. but idk what’s up with my brother. it actually hurts to know that he said that. i always tell people how responsible he is as an older brother, and always care about us and yet…. :( i really don’t know. i guess i was wrong… i’m still pretending that i didn’t know he said that. also jokes on him, why would he tell that to our younger bro when he knows that my lil pooper would tell me. or did he think he wouldn’t?

anw, it’s disappointing. i knew it, when he saw my bank account, he kept asking me to treat them, or to buy stuff for the pets etc. that was 18k and was swept just as he wanted. i am really fucking confused as hell. why would you act like that to your own blood? because i’m second born? i’m not even asking mom for anything when she goes abroad, my mom’s plan was to buy me a house but i told her to give it to the older instead since he’s spending so much for us and he might not be able to save for his own since he ain’t into taking risks, can’t even try to work in tech.

after japan, i’ll save money so i could purchase my own home or start whatever ,without them knowing and take my pets, and lil pooper if he wants to. because of course, mom is on his side, as always. first born complex perhaps?

i guess we will never resolve this money issue just because i earn much more than them. and they just simply hate me. fuck it.

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 27 August 1953

Two songs this week, both from completely new artists, although one would turn out to be less new than the title would suggest, in a twist that I'm not sure I appreciated when I realised. Oh, well.

Eternally - Jimmy Young (peaked at No. 8)

I was so excited; we had a new artist, with a song title that I didn't recognise! Yay! Imagine my surprise, then, when a very familiar piano riff kicks us off - it's another version of Terry's Theme from Limelight. You know, the not-particularly-funny-sounding Charlie Chaplin film that the record-buying public were apparently obsessed with in 1953?

To be honest, I'd never heard of this film before I started on this project, and I'm now imagining that it must have been the hit of the summer in 1953! Although, a spot of research does tell me, weirdly, that while it was popular in Japan and much of Europe, it barely got shown in the US due to Charlie Chaplin's alleged Communist sympathies, and when Chaplin came to the UK to promote the film, he was actually denied a visa back into the US, which is also how I learnt that Charlie Chaplin was British? I think I thought he was American!

That rabbit-hole aside, there's not much more to say about this tune than what I've already said. It's still very classical, though this version has more in common with Frank Chackfield's slightly lame version than Ron Goodwin's actually very good orchestral version. It's got classical instruments, but they aren't as crisp or as differentiated as Ron's are, more mushy strings and echoey piano.

The key difference? There are suddenly words! This, I gather, is why it wasn't billed as Terry's Theme again, not that the words are much to write home about. We start rhyming "eternally" with... uh, "eternally", before Jimmy keeps on singing about how "Though the sky should fall / Remember I shall always be / Forever true and loving you / Eternally" and how he always knew his love and him were meant to be. Yawn. There's literally nothing striking about these lyrics, they're very dull.

Jimmy Young, sings in a very trained, very British way, hanging back slightly like he's ashamed of the mush that he's singing. Which is fair enough, I don't think I could muster up much oomph for his. Whcih is a shame, as I think this is one song that would actually be improved by the Al Martino-style "belt it" approach. I can imagine a version with a much bigger, louder "Eteeeeeeernally" at the end, for sure!

But instead, we go out with a whimper, and a harp glissando. Oh well. Next song!

Seven Lonely Day - Gisele MacKenzie (6)

I'd never heard of Gisele MacKenzie, but her voice here is a nice discovery. It's a country-ish voice, though I can't quite call this a country song. Something in the way she leans into words works nicely.

It's a jaunty sort of song, despite the title, and though it starts as an angsty break-up song about how "Seven lonely days make one lonely week / Seven lonely nights make one lonely me / Ever since the time you told me were through", it slowly morphs into something else.

The first clue that something is amiss is the men's chorus that comes in, with a very hearty "Oh, my darlin', I'm cryin', boo-hoo-hoo, There's no use in denyin' I cried for you". It's still about how sad she is, but they just go at with so much gusto that it's impossible to feel particularly sad. They're rousing, you want to join in, and the "boo-hoo-hoo" bits are particularly fun!

And then Gisele gets to the heart of it, suggesting that her love didn't treat her particularly well while they were together ("It was your favourite pastime, makin' me blue") and then telling them: "Last week was the last time I cried for you" and "Guess it never pays to make your lover blue". Gisele didn't initiate the break-up, but she's over it now, and I love the attitude in this section. It's a very modern pop-diva move, turning a sad break-up song into a defiant, "I don't care" kind of song, and I am a sucker for it!

There's a little bit of clunky writing in the middle when she sings about how "Seven hankies blue I filled with my tears" and how "Seven letters true I filled with my fears". It doesn't help that her pronunciation makes it sound like "seven leathers", which confused me even further...

Still, all is forgiven when the clapping comes in near the end, when the men's chorus comes back. I love some clapping in a song! It's catchy as anything, and really ramps things up as the song draws to a close, changing up the vibe just enough to keep it fresh. Lovely stuff!

Two very different songs, then, and I think my favourite is a no-brainer. Gisele MacKenzie, unlikely as it seems, is the prototypical pop diva here, pioneering a whole genre of defiant post-breakup song that's a guilty (or not so guilty) pleasure of mine. So, without further ado...

Favourite song of the bunch: Seven Lonely Days

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Fukuoka City Free School

Fukuoka City Free School is a school that does not charge tuition for elementary and junior high students. However, students must pay fees for school lunches, supplies and some school trips. Students who have financial difficulties paying these fees may apply for assistance. Details can be obtained from the schools or the School Enrollment & Finance Subsection (Gakuji-gakari) of the Educational Support Section (Kyoiku Shien-ka), Fukuoka City Board of Education. Check their site to know more details 福岡市フリースクール.

Located along the shores of Hakata Bay, Fukuoka has been an international port city since ancient times. This historic city continues to draw visitors from around the world, especially since Japan reintroduced visa-free entry for foreign tourists in October 2018. Visitors are drawn by Fukuoka’s renowned cuisine, casual atmosphere and arts scenes.

One of the city’s many cultural assets is the Fukuoka Museum, which combines classical Japanese architecture with modern art and is also registered as a Tangible Cultural Property of Fukuoka Prefecture. Another must-see attraction is the Hakata Port Tower, a symbol of the city that offers beautiful views over the sea and a modern shopping and dining complex below.

The city is a leading center of Japanese music, with an abundance of venues and talented artists. Notable musical names include renowned singer-songwriter Ayumi Hamasaki, the popular duo Chage & Aska and Morning Musume 6th generation member Reina Tanaka. In addition, Dominican singer and songwriter Juan Luis Guerra paid tribute to the city with his bachata song Bachata en Fukuoka.

Fukuoka is home to a number of universities and colleges that offer courses in the liberal arts, sciences and technical subjects as well as business and economics. In addition, Fukuoka City runs an extensive program of educational and cultural events for citizens and visitors from abroad.

There are also several private schools in the city that cater to students with special needs or those who do not pass the entrance examination for public schools. These schools are operated by the city and not by the prefecture. The city also offers after school care for children of elementary school age whose parents are away during the day. These clubs provide a safe environment where students can study and play.

As a major gateway to Asia, Fukuoka is a hub for international exchange with China and Korea. The city encourages citizen-led exchange through partnerships with local exchange associations and other organizations. In addition, the city supports overseas students with scholarships and offers consultations on human rights and resident status procedures for foreigners living in Fukuoka. The city also hosts an event for new international students every autumn. This is a great opportunity to meet other international residents and learn about the city’s culture and history.