*** NO SPOILERS IN THIS ARTICLE *** The 2016 Japanese animated film “君の名は” (Kimi No Na Wa) or “Your Name” has topped the renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” as the world’s highest grossing film of all time with a total of $353,754,471 as of April 26,…

Ramen shops, souvenir stores, hotels and a Japanese supermarket inhabit Little Tokyo. Amidst all this busyness, standing out the brightest and most colorful is Sanrio, a Japanese toy store dedicated to selling “kawaii” – or cute – trinkets, dolls, and Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty, along with all the…

Have you ever noticed that many East Asians and Southeast Asians hold up a peace sign when posing for casual photos? My first exposure to this was when I studied abroad in Hong Kong.  Almost without fail, whenever my local peers posed for a photo, up went their…