Japanese Cafe Bags Objectivist Crowd

A couple of neat items caught my eye during lunch at my computer.

The Selfish American Cafe

Over at Riding Sun is a neat post about a Cafe in Japan called the "Selfish American." So has a businessman deluded himself into thinking that his path to fortune lies in cornering the Objectivist tourist trade in eastern Setagaya? Nah. His business prospects seem better than that!

The Gaijin Biker also gives some interesting background on the meaning of the Japanese word for "selfish," wagamama. He quotes the following from an article in New York Magazine on a cultural phenomenon in Japan known as "parasite singles" (women who live with their parents long after they'd traditionally marry):

No one is actually rejecting marriage," Izumi says quickly. "Not even Sumiko. They all think they'll probably get married some day. It's just..." She breaks off and laughs. "Women today are wagamama."

Her word choice is significant. Wagamama means selfish, willful; in a culture where personal sacrifice is the highest virtue, the connotation is far harsher, especially for women. Yet, as the parasite trend has emerged, women like Arai have taken on the word wagamama, albeit slightly tongue in cheek, as a term of defiance...transforming its meaning in the process to something closer to "choosy" or even "self-determining."

He then follows up with this: "In that context, America is the ultimate wagamama nation: a land where everyone can pursue his own destiny. I've never been so proud to be a selfish American."

I'll second that!

Time to Join eBay!

Quick! Get your historic eyepatch while you can!



This I simply find amusing!

Several items of great Israeli historical interest have been trading on the online auction site eBay. The original eye patch worn by former defense minister and chief of staff Moshe Dayan has been offered for the sum of $75,000....

Ah! The benefits of living in a wagamama nation are not to be underestimated! Heh!

-- CAV