Nick Kapur Profile picture
Oct 27 30 tweets 8 min read Read on X
"Mundane Halloween" returns!

It's that time of year again, when Japanese website @dailyportalz holds its annual contest to dress up as something super ordinary.

Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2024 contest!
"Person who really likes the crunchy part of the corn dog"

"Guy sweating bullets because he's been asked to cut a pizza into four equal slices at a lunch with important business contacts he's never met before"

"Student volunteer at a university's 'open campus' day"

"Person standing in line at the security checkpoint of an airport"

"Person who foolishly ordered curry udon despite wearing white clothes"

"Guy at karaoke surreptitiously trying to learn the next song in the queue"

"Man who keeps getting mistaking for a store employee"

"Students who went to the cafe to study but ended up spending the whole time reading manga and looking at their phones"

"Guy who just got back from the swimming pool"

"Actor in an airline safety video"

Ophelia

(from Shakespeare's "Hamlet")

"Part-time worker paid to brace the fence at the front of a live concert"

"Woman who only became a Hanshin Tigers fan to please her boyfriend"
"Person who was stingy and only paid for the smallest plastic bag"

"Photo of your Dad when he was your age"

"One of those really low ceilings in Ueno station"

"One of those guys who conducts surveys on the street by asking people to place a sticker on a board"

"Waitress who provides half-hearted service"

"That person who gives their coworkers some sort of weird gummy candy instead of something actually tasty when they come back from an overseas vacation"

"That one coworker who kindly fills the office humidifier with water ever morning"

"Middle-aged office worker whose much younger boyfriend came to pick her up on his motorbike after work"

"Person whose sweater got caught on a doorknob"

"Guy who can't get the printer to print correctly no matter how hard he tries"

"Guy who takes pride in never holding the handholds on the subway"

"Lady at the tourist information desk"

"Referee at a tug-of-war competiton"

"Some sort of 'cast member' at a theme park"

Ack, I meant to say, 5 slices!

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More from @nick_kapur

Feb 15
Chinese state media want to stop translating 龍 as "dragon" in favor of unwieldy transliteration "loong." They claim Chinese dragons don't breathe fire & are benevolent/auspicious, unlike evil western dragons.

This is nationalist nonsense. A thread.

1/

scmp.com/news/china/dip…
First of all, despite what people say, Chinese dragons do breathe fire. Sometimes. There are thousands of accounts of dragon sightings in Chinese historical chronicles, and while by no means common, there are numerous accounts of Chinese dragons specifically breathing fire.

2/
This strikes me as an incredibly specific coincidence, to go along with all the other many areas of overlap, including scales, spines, horns, fangs, ability to fly, historical association with dinosaur bones, etc.

3/
Read 14 tweets
Feb 10
Happy Year of the Dragon to all!

Did you ever wonder why the other 11 Chinese zodiac creatures are all "normal" animals, but then there is the dragon?

A brief thread.

1/

(Image: detail of "Nine Dragons" by Chen Rong [1244], Boston MFA) Image
The reason is that for thousands of years of Chinese history, dragon were a routine, if not exactly common, part of daily life in China, just like the other animals in the zodiac.

2/

(Image: The Nine-Dragon Wall in Beihai Park in Beijing) Image
Dragons were attributed with great power, & were often associated with the Emperor, but this was little different from the King of England being symbolized by a lion, another creature of great strength that hardly anyone had ever seen.

(Image: flag of Qing China [1644-1912])

3/ Image
Read 8 tweets
Oct 29, 2023
Mundane Halloween is back!

Today is the "Mundane Halloween" contest in Japan, sponsored by website @dailyportalz

The idea is to dress up as something incredibly ordinary.

Here is a thread of some of my favorites from this year!
"Factory worker who wore a helmet all day"

"Person trying to go viral with a video of a cat riding a Roomba"

Read 20 tweets
Sep 7, 2023
Incredible history of all the Chinese dynasties through iconic "Simpsons" quotes 😂 Image
Key to historical references:

Xia - purported first dynasty for which there is no historical evidence (as of yet)

Shang - Oracle bones from this dynasty are the earliest known examples of Chinese writing

Zhou - most of the famous Chinese philosophers lived during this dynasty
Warring States - a time of chaos as dozens of small states competed for dominance

Qin - dynasty known for philosophy of "legalism" - extremely harsh & punitive laws

Han - dynasty known for establishing education and examination system, building bridges, and conquering new lands
Read 6 tweets
Oct 31, 2022
Mundane Halloween is back!

Japan does Halloween better than anyone, but best of all is the annual "mundane Halloween" contest sponsored by website @dailyportalz.

The point is to dress up as something super ordinary.

Here are some of my favorites from this year...
"Person who tried to cut their own bangs, failed, and now claims it's the latest fashion"

"Two people who wore the exact same outfit and now its super awkward"

Read 31 tweets
Jul 8, 2022
BREAKING: Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe was shot in the chest with a gun during a speech and collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital and it is unclear if he is still alive.
Police are saying he was shot from behind with a shotgun, as per the chyron on this television news report:
This seems to be a still image of the attacker, a middle aged man, aiming his shotgun at Abe, who is now in custody.

Two shots were fired. The first seemed to miss. The man did not flee; he just squatted down and waited to be arrested, as per NHK.
Read 26 tweets

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