the qualia journal

It is the 11th day after the quake, and the grim reality continues to penetrate our existence. Natural disasters are always bad enough. Loss...

We need to keep diversity at any cost, even at a time of difficulty such as this. Stiff upper lips, with occasional smiles emanating to all ...

Ever since the Tohoku Earthquake hit, so many events and meetings have been and are being cancelled in and around Tokyo. All over Japan, in ...

For moderation purposes, this blog now requires users to log in using a google account to leave comments. I apologize for any inconveniences...

This morning, I woke up to find the headlines on the front page of Japanese newspapers to have a happy tone for the first time since this cr...

SInce the earthquake on the 11th March, life as we know it has changed beyond recognition in Japan. I am tweeting @kenmogi about situations ...

The fact that Japan is an island nation has led to the preservation of many unique customs. Some of them (e.g. Kabuki and Bunraku) are cultu...

An episode of QI, BBC's popular comedy quiz show hosted by Mr. Stephen Fry has caused an uproar in Japan. In this particular episode, Mr...

An inspiration came to my mind when I was spending the new year's vacation with my mother. In the previous year, the world witnessed sev...

It has been sometime since I last updated my blog. In the last few weeks, I have been privately occupied, with this and that. Meanwhile, the...

Memories are sometimes so intriguing. Consider the time when I was in the forest of Kyushu, near my mother’s parents’ house, and suddenly en...

Several years ago, I was in the Tiananmen Square, mingling among the crowd. There were various kinds of people. Those who apparently came fr...

I am attending the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, and I am thinking about the universal human, on the floor of the gigantic ...

When I was an undergraduate, I often used to ask the “what” questions. As I was a Physics major, most of the puzzles were Physics-related. W...

The fact that nationalism is on the rise in some parts of the world seems to be indicating the ubiquity of growing global interdependence. I...

I think there are two kinds of stupidities. In one, you try to protect yourself. By looking down on others, for example. In the other, you d...

Everybody knows that Japan is an island nation. But we sometimes forget that, because the main Honshu island is so large. Recently I flew to...

Language policy is really serious here in this country, and has grave implications for my own life, too. I love Japanese as my native tongue...

I have been to Singapore on a few days trip, attending a conference and giving a talk. The energy in Singapore is incredible. Even politicia...

Even small children are fond of moving their hands and leaving tiny traces of colored lines on the paper. A whole career can be built, start...