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Gaijin Mommy

@gaijinmommy.bsky.social

4.4K followers 2.5K following 7.8K posts

Permanent resident of Japan. 日本語 N1. Urban wildlife street photography of flowers. Shared consciousness with Tokyo Skytree. Neurodivergent house party. Train otaku by proxy. Sober. Survivor. Shitamachi supremacist. Profile: @nakimushiart.bsky.social

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · Nov 19

Hi! I am moving some of my favorite memes about Japan that I’ve made over the years across the abyss to a pinned post over here, so that we all may have a happy, new life together. Depending on how well you know me, this 🧵 will either be my informal self-introduction, or a blast from the past.

A joke map of Tokyo’s Yamanote line, with all the station names “liberally” translated into English.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 3h

The problem is that none of the other temple wives (and yes, there is a group chat) work. That is part of her husband’s reasoning. The other part is that it makes the temple look poor.

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 3h

Hey Sumida River, moon.

Nearly full moon dressed up as a white blob, hiding behind the clouds like an obnoxious diva. Skytree lit green, white and purple river boat, and the Tobu line bridge lit up red yellow and white over the Sumida. Everyone but the moon is trying very hard.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 5h

いろいろ

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 5h

So ungrateful!

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 6h

Ha!

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 6h

Same clouds!

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 6h

the end of drama

Tokyo Skytree against rapidly darkening blue and pink sky, with sort of weird clouds. Now.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 7h

Yeah thanks I will suggest that. Apparently the reason for leaving has to be deemed “acceptable” by hus and MIL, which rules out most things. That crazy thing is that she is not a weak person at all, she’s just caught in a crushing system…

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 7h

Yeah I was starting to suggest that too but she needs to get out on a regular basis, as in…. A job 😮‍💨

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 7h

And then I gave her what felt like the most useless and ineffective hug ever to be hugged but it was a hug nonetheless.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 7h

So my Temple Wife Mamatomo is feeling trapped living w/ her MIL & she needs to get out more but her husband still won’t let her work (!!) & we were trying to brainstorm other ways to get her outside yet all I could think of was being a PTA officer & I have never put forward a worse idea in my life.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 8h

👋

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 8h

Oh shit that sounds severe. I hope you have all the care and support you need for your recovery!

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 9h

O. Are u… ok?

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 9h

All of you!

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 9h

Vegetables!

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 9h

😐

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 11h

He would rip through that so fast 😂

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 11h

Thank you so much 😭

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 12h

Not me searching whether or not it’s possible to undelete a post from Bluesky, knowing full well what the answer will be, because I’m fine.

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 12h

and other nods to all things purple

Purple water lilies in a pond, posed together like a candid photograph of kids of all different heights casually hanging out together in the 70s.

Amythist sage in a field with no context. Just various shades of purple and green.

A little brown butterfly with a little purple stripe rests on purple and white sage flowers, contemplating what it means to be in focus when nothing else is. Especially the left side of the frame. It is hard to tell what is even there.

Purple sage again. No context, just raindrops if you look for them.

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Reposted by Gaijin Mommy

Clueless Toshika @cluelesstoshika.bsky.social · 13h

I've been seeing the image on the left floating around social media, but it sadly lacks explanation of the exotic Oriental concepts contained therein, so as I am off work today with a brain stuck in silly mode, I have attempted a tribute act to the written works of @gaijinmommy.bsky.social

Kintsugi
A pottery repair shop run by an 85 year old ojisan in an ailing shopping arcade
Ikigai (いき街)
Short for いきいき商店街, a program of subsidies to revitalise ailing shopping arcades
Wabi-Sabi (和美錆)
A wistful expression of nostalgia for an ailing shopping arcade
Kaizen (KAIZEN)
A popular title for business books explaining 1980s Japan
Muda (夢蛇)
A snake which often appears, unbidden, in dreams
Namawashi (生和紙)
The practice of strengthening one's stomach by eating raw rice paper.
Not to be confused with 生鷲, the ancient Samurai practice of eating raw eagles.
Shokunin Kishitsu (職人気室)
A room where craftspeople can perform breathing exercises
Omoiyari (重い槍)
Lit. "heavy spear", the nom de plume of a heavily pixelised actor
Genchi Genbutsu (現痴現沕)
The zen practice of disappearing up one's own posterior
Mottainai
An expression of regret about the value of an object before consigning it to the "moeru-gomi"
Ringi (林議)
The practice of combining "shinrin'yoku" with business meetings
Ma
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba from China, an exotic Oriental country a bit like Japan

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 12h

😂

Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 13h

Haha he is kind of like a grandpa actually. Like that time he hurt a muscle in his leg and insisted on walking everywhere with a cane…

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Gaijin Mommy @gaijinmommy.bsky.social · 13h

😂