Jay Allen
@gaiaslastlaugh.bsky.social
Writer on Japan. Living my best life in Tokyo. Militant bisexual. Pagan/Buddhist. 日本在留アメリカ人男性
https://unseen-japan.com
https://unseen-japan.com
Pinned
Jay Allen
@gaiaslastlaugh.bsky.social
· Nov 17
Not sure how I got 500 followers already but…hi! I’m the @unseenjapan.com guy. This account is mostly about cool things I’m doing (or eating) around Japan plus pontification on publishing and politics.
Reposted by Jay Allen
One of my wife's guys recently upped the ante recently, the bastard 😅
my wife's boyfriend better not get her a better christmas present than me
November 25, 2025 at 9:52 PM
One of my wife's guys recently upped the ante recently, the bastard 😅
Reposted by Jay Allen
This is honestly one of the biggest issues in Japan: hyper conservative gender roles maintained by an ever aging ruling class and those who are in their party. Most of my Japanese friends do not adhere to any of those outdated rules.
I honestly did not think through this consequence of Japan having its first female PM:
"The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world."
mainichi.jp/english/arti...
"The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world."
mainichi.jp/english/arti...
Japan's first female leader faces a taboo over entering the male-only sumo ring - The Mainichi
TOKYO (AP) -- Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan's first female prime minister in October. She must now decide whether she'll break another
mainichi.jp
November 25, 2025 at 10:17 AM
This is honestly one of the biggest issues in Japan: hyper conservative gender roles maintained by an ever aging ruling class and those who are in their party. Most of my Japanese friends do not adhere to any of those outdated rules.
I honestly did not think through this consequence of Japan having its first female PM:
"The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world."
mainichi.jp/english/arti...
"The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world."
mainichi.jp/english/arti...
Japan's first female leader faces a taboo over entering the male-only sumo ring - The Mainichi
TOKYO (AP) -- Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan's first female prime minister in October. She must now decide whether she'll break another
mainichi.jp
November 25, 2025 at 9:41 AM
I honestly did not think through this consequence of Japan having its first female PM:
"The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world."
mainichi.jp/english/arti...
"The rule that makes the dohyo a serious battleground for men is only natural for wrestlers, making the dohyo a male-only world."
mainichi.jp/english/arti...
Reposted by Jay Allen
Although the scale of this is still to be assessed, this is the inevitable outcome of the monetization of the algorithm. Rage-bait becomes a personal revenue model. Nothing about this should be a surprise.
NEWS: I spent the past 24 hours going through major MAGA accounts on Twitter, and a bombshell development has become clear: most of the right-wing ecosphere is being fed propaganda from foreign actors.
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
NEWS: Major MAGA Accounts on Twitter Exposed as Foreign Actors
A stunning development over the past 24 hours.
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Although the scale of this is still to be assessed, this is the inevitable outcome of the monetization of the algorithm. Rage-bait becomes a personal revenue model. Nothing about this should be a surprise.
Reposted by Jay Allen
Let’s talk about “Move fast and break things.” First of all, Facebook itself changed its motto to “Move fast with stable infrastructure” in 2014. So much for breaking things, at least if you’re a soulless corporate behemoth.
1/12
1/12
November 22, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Let’s talk about “Move fast and break things.” First of all, Facebook itself changed its motto to “Move fast with stable infrastructure” in 2014. So much for breaking things, at least if you’re a soulless corporate behemoth.
1/12
1/12
Reposted by Jay Allen
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
November 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
Reposted by Jay Allen
Watching My Dress-up Darling (it's amazing), I realize I really love gyaru. The culture is all about having fun with your body and your gender and it's a beautiful thing. Anti-gyaru sentiment is sooo rooted in misogyny and control of women's behaviour and looks.
Ultimate "let girls have fun" energy.
Ultimate "let girls have fun" energy.
The gyaru/gals trope is anime will always be one of my favorites. It’s always so fun & just my fave type of girls in anime 🩷
November 24, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Watching My Dress-up Darling (it's amazing), I realize I really love gyaru. The culture is all about having fun with your body and your gender and it's a beautiful thing. Anti-gyaru sentiment is sooo rooted in misogyny and control of women's behaviour and looks.
Ultimate "let girls have fun" energy.
Ultimate "let girls have fun" energy.
This narrative of whether Japan is a 貧しい国 pops up in the press and online occasionally, but I don't see it getting a lot of coverage in English. Def feels like it's popping up more, given recent inflation.
unseen-japan.com/lawson-combi...
unseen-japan.com/lawson-combi...
Is Japan Poor? Combini's New "Rice and Sauce" Dish Sparks Social Media Debate - Unseen Japan
Is Lawson Store 100's new dish a sign of Japan's dire economic straits? Or is it just responding to consumer demand?
unseen-japan.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:38 AM
This narrative of whether Japan is a 貧しい国 pops up in the press and online occasionally, but I don't see it getting a lot of coverage in English. Def feels like it's popping up more, given recent inflation.
unseen-japan.com/lawson-combi...
unseen-japan.com/lawson-combi...
Reposted by Jay Allen
Localization is a complex art. In France, it means turning an English title into a worse English title with the word "sex" in it.
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Localization is a complex art. In France, it means turning an English title into a worse English title with the word "sex" in it.
Um what the fuck is happening I feel like I'm losing my goddamn mind
Trump is now defending Mamdani in response to loaded questions from Fox News. incredible scenes
November 21, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Um what the fuck is happening I feel like I'm losing my goddamn mind
Reposted by Jay Allen
i feel…nuts
Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
November 21, 2025 at 8:56 PM
i feel…nuts
Reposted by Jay Allen
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
November 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
Reposted by Jay Allen
When asked if there was anything "incriminating" in Epstein's emails, Trump pointed a finger in a female reporter's face and snapped. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy.'
people.com/donald-trump...
people.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'
Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files
people.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:55 AM
When asked if there was anything "incriminating" in Epstein's emails, Trump pointed a finger in a female reporter's face and snapped. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy.'
people.com/donald-trump...
people.com/donald-trump...
Reposted by Jay Allen
epstein emails released and everyone coming out as a pedophile to defend donald trump
November 16, 2025 at 11:22 PM
epstein emails released and everyone coming out as a pedophile to defend donald trump
Ran a spell check on my latest article. I had 700-some perfect, error-free words... and three typos in the 160-character excerpt 🤡
November 16, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Ran a spell check on my latest article. I had 700-some perfect, error-free words... and three typos in the 160-character excerpt 🤡
Reposted by Jay Allen
Antisemitism is a lot like Qanon child abuse conspiracies in that there’s this real and bad phenomenon and, parallel to that, what can only be described as a large scale mass psychosis about a mostly fictional version of the same phenomenon
November 16, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Antisemitism is a lot like Qanon child abuse conspiracies in that there’s this real and bad phenomenon and, parallel to that, what can only be described as a large scale mass psychosis about a mostly fictional version of the same phenomenon
Reposted by Jay Allen
Reposted by Jay Allen
One of the most baffling moments from Roger Ebert's negative review of Blue Velvet is when he takes offense to what David Lynch asked of Isabella Rossellini and cites Last Tango In Paris as a positive comparison aka the film where both leads publicly said they felt sexually abused by the director
November 14, 2025 at 10:08 PM
One of the most baffling moments from Roger Ebert's negative review of Blue Velvet is when he takes offense to what David Lynch asked of Isabella Rossellini and cites Last Tango In Paris as a positive comparison aka the film where both leads publicly said they felt sexually abused by the director
Working for a Japanese company that keeps you so busy you don’t have time for sex. In other words, a コックブロック企業
November 15, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Working for a Japanese company that keeps you so busy you don’t have time for sex. In other words, a コックブロック企業
With over 40 million people expected to visit Japan this year, you're gonna have *some* bad behavior. Sadly, that behavior stands out when a shop that's not used to no-shows suddenly sees foreign travelers standing them up over and over again.
unseen-japan.com/japan-restau...
unseen-japan.com/japan-restau...
Tourists' No-Shows Are Driving This Japanese Sweets Shop to Tears - Unseen Japan
The store says between 2 and 3 groups of tourists cancel every day, leaving a big hole in its bottom line.
unseen-japan.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 PM
With over 40 million people expected to visit Japan this year, you're gonna have *some* bad behavior. Sadly, that behavior stands out when a shop that's not used to no-shows suddenly sees foreign travelers standing them up over and over again.
unseen-japan.com/japan-restau...
unseen-japan.com/japan-restau...
I am going to become ザ・ジョーカー
November 13, 2025 at 9:59 PM
I am going to become ザ・ジョーカー
The unspoken horror of Japanese 7-Elevens is that, no matter when you walk in, there a 50% chance they’ll be playing a Muzak rendition of “Viva La Vida”
November 13, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The unspoken horror of Japanese 7-Elevens is that, no matter when you walk in, there a 50% chance they’ll be playing a Muzak rendition of “Viva La Vida”
Trump admin aiming to improve its poor polling by *checks notes* banning one of America's most popular OTC pain meds
JD Vance calls ibuprofen "useless medication" and implies it's not "necessary, safe and effective."
November 13, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Trump admin aiming to improve its poor polling by *checks notes* banning one of America's most popular OTC pain meds