O. Ben Karp
@obenkarp
Followers
3,410
Following
4,414
Media
1,372
Statuses
14,516
American in Tokyo (Tochigi, Philly & Vermont). Restoring a traditional country house and garden.東京在住のアメリカ人。現在，栃木県の田園地帯にある伝統的な屋敷の離れ家や納屋を修復し（黒羽別邸・旧後藤院）、庭を整備している
Tokyo
Joined June 2009
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Öcalan
• 117558 Tweets
Devlet Bahçeli
• 112865 Tweets
PRELIMINARY MGI24 X ENGLOT
• 97057 Tweets
YOURSKY OFFICIAL TRAILER
• 90868 Tweets
Chris Kaba
• 71557 Tweets
期日前投票
• 68443 Tweets
PRELIMINARY MGI2024xCHARLOTTE
• 66338 Tweets
TBMM
• 64928 Tweets
#よにのANNP
• 63874 Tweets
ENGFA X PRELIMINARYMGI2024
• 56303 Tweets
Meclise
• 46347 Tweets
Özgür Özel
• 46194 Tweets
リンク1
• 45901 Tweets
#民王R
• 27758 Tweets
Valdivia
• 24472 Tweets
かぼちゃ大作戦
• 21808 Tweets
YAZIKLAR OLSUN
• 20340 Tweets
あのちゃん
• 19332 Tweets
連続2クール
• 18715 Tweets
桜井政博
• 16660 Tweets
Cocoa
• 14759 Tweets
Supreme God Kabir
• 11600 Tweets
最終回スペシャル
• 11372 Tweets
桜井さん
• 10846 Tweets
#仰天ニュース
• 10251 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
The most significant thing for me 2023 was closing on my home in Tochigi, & its also the answer to a thread I saw earlier: "What is something from a movie that set you on a purpose?" In 1980 (😲) my mother dragged me to see "Kagemusha." I was mesmerized by a scene where Lord
12
9
214
Just saw a tourism "great things about Japan" video which commends the free umbrellas in front of stores. Apparently you can just take one and put it back at another store when you are done with it. (edit: Don't do this.)
23
98
1K
@realJackEason
Nah they’re fine no need to invent drama. Two great artists together and apart.
2
5
705
@JBinzy84
@bethanyshondark
I mean she has already tweeted as if Asia, where people mask even when there is not a pandemic, doesn't exist so not surprising. Honestly, never seen or heard of any of these complaints ever in near 20 years in Japan.
4
18
571
@dieworkwear
@MrAnthonyWeiss
And zoning/regulations. You want to sell your handmade fly fishing hooks and play your record collection while serving machine coffee from your living room and call it a cafe, have at it Hoss-san. No one will bother you and you will likely have regulars first weeks.
8
10
492
5
11
416
In my experience its very hard for Japanese people to discern how much or how little Japanese capability a foreigner possesses. Today after a long and complicated conversation about real estate transactions someone asked me if i knew what 古い (old) meant. 1/2
32
58
429
My wife is a Kansai Japanese Patriot. She believes Kansai is Japan’s “hyojungo,” or standard language, and the varient we speak in Tokyo is the dialect. She even teaches her university courses and speaks to her colleagues using Kansai-ben. Reminds me of a professor I had who
35
45
409
@ShimminyKricket
@Sir_Geechie
Japan rigidly separates hunting/wildlife management (licensed) from hobby (very narrowly tolerated) Biggest gun nuts in US think 2nd amendment means they don’t need to justify purchase or use. Big problem imo.
4
5
370
"Akiya in Japan" is not just about old, empty houses that supposedly anyone can buy for 25k US$. The story sits inside a swirl of issues: depopulation, immigration, exoticism, foreign residence, sustainability, heating, remote work. imho "Akiya" is a kind of social index.
8
35
367
Tokyo garden research. Met with one of Japan’s best known and most interesting garden masters, Ishihara Kazuyuki, at his office in Shibuya. Ishihara Sensei will be visiting my place in Tochigi for the first time this summer. Then a trip to Happo-En which is a favorite oasis and
5
32
356
During our long negotiation the former owner kept asking me if I had seen the metal boxes on the floor for when I need to vacuum. He’s old and this is the deep country but still I thought it was odd he thought floor plug outlets were so special. Like at least once a month
23
9
330
@turrible_tao
This is a lot bc English can be consonant-consonant, but besides a final “n” Japanese is always consonant followed by vowel. The cognates sound exaggerated to English trained ear.
2
1
316
Amazing chat with Bosco Takaki about the origins of Old Time music. His teachers, born at the turn of the 20th century and isolated in the Appalachians, were the last generation to learn and play music without the influence of radio and other media. He spoke at length about being
14
61
322
One of the most amazing parts of the Sugihara story is that after the war he returned to his home and lived a fairly quiet life. It was only after survivors and their children started visiting him that his heroic efforts became widely known.
Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and his wife Yukiko spent 18 - 20 hours a day writing and signing transit visas for over 6,000 Jews from July 31 to August 28, 1940. When the time came for them to depart, Sugihara said, "Please forgive me. I cannot write anymore. I wish you the
229
4K
20K
5
46
299
@Noahpinion
You may be familiar with the Yiddish expression (polite version) “if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a wagon.”
4
1
269
@dieworkwear
Here is a very interesting thread on subject of AI and subject matter expertise from a kimono consultant:
I want to talk about this AI imagery. I'm certified as a kimono consultant in Japan, and this triggered me in all sorts of ways. Let me tell you about some of them. It might look beautiful on the surface, but a lot of strangeness is at play. (1/6
96
4K
21K
5
6
266
@dieworkwear
btw very typical of Japan - my neighbor is a lastmaker and he put his shop on the first floor of his house. Seems he works a regular job too.
2
5
212
@DarthKeidran
@benshapiro
Are you suggesting "the Sureños gang" invented a time machine and went back to design Washington's family coat of arms, from which the three stars on the DC flag are taken? This is amazing news indeed.
1
0
176
@JakeMGrumbach
@CBSNews
That actually makes it sound generous (on the part of the median household where 80 bucks is 80 bucks).
4
4
188
@TheRickWilson
Warning specifically not to go after family finances. He knows details of what all Trump watchers know generalities of: Russian money.
2
26
184
@messedupfoods
Only truly unforgivable thing is the fork on the non-stick. I only serve my family well prepared meals but at three am by myself- sure whatever.
2
0
187
Excited to have started the renovations of a small “hanare,” a two room 16 mat space, detached from main building.
4
5
183
@Oniropolis
you might be interested in this woodblock artist Akira Yamaguchi, "Famous Scenes of New Tokyo"
0
60
173
@JohnMTalmadgeMD
Yesterday a tump-skeptical but not nevertrumper person, very connected to GOP donors, told me same.
2
5
159
I am now the caretaker of this shrine which has been here in various forms for hundreds of years. I take it as a real responsibility. I asked only if I could serve bourbon so my own ancients could have a familiar drink. Hoping all the spirits get along!
13
11
160
.. in any other country I would be like MF are you out of your GD mind? I just talked to you about recourse loans, amortization and adjustable rate mortgages, but in Japan I'm just like, oh yes I do know what the word old means. Thank you for confirming. ? 2/2
4
4
150
Incredibly honored to have had a visit by legendary gardener
@ishihara_kaz
. The goal is to return this industrial fish tank area to a more natural state within an appropriate landscape; a home for fish, frogs and local flora that will also bring joy to human viewers. Always
4
7
54
I’d happily sit for hours in a park drinking One Cup with old dudes like this if they were total strangers. The fact that we’re now forever neighbors and they let me join their local community group is a life highlight. Very grateful on a beautiful day in Tochigi.
9
9
153
Met a family that was so kind to me when I was a grad student and hoped to whittle my debt a bit by hosting them but they went and brought me this; a Meiji era wedding party bento box.
12
5
153
Volcanic stone from Tochigi. Three stones from Fukushima. These are often seen wet in traditional gardens. Light rain gives them same shine.
6
9
143
@APoliticalPrnsr
@marklevinshow
@KatGkannon
@realDonaldTrump
@EricTrump
Mark knows being on TV/twitter is much better for his career than becoming a lawyer who needs a lawyer under a bus.
14
8
139
This trip up I found the former owner registered me at a local temple as the caretaker of this shrine. He left the registry seal in one of the niches that used to house a wooden statue. Hard to express how touched I felt and feel. In a material world, the house/land title
11
7
140
@reda_tamtam
@MarcusRediker
True! I corresponded with him in grad school.
Another who would answer (by typed letter) W.F. Buckley.
3
2
128
@MusicforLiberia
supports children's education through musical events. I can't think of a better combination, and am super excited to be joining as a Trustee. Music belongs to everyone equally, and there is no more powerful uniter of people.
3
24
127
I was curious what the Yamanote line looked like over Manhattan (can't remember how I did (found?) this 8 years ago)
9
21
134
@andDaniel411203
@William_E_Wolfe
Wyman and Reagan divorced because of political differences. There were no accusations of abandonment, adultery or domestic violence. Aka no fault.
1
0
121
If you have never seen Josephine Baker in a kimono. 1954. (NYPL collection)
Josephine Baker b.
#OTD
Collection correspondence, photographs, personal papers, and printed material documenting the life and career of Josephine Baker between 1929 and 1968
(Photos via )
2
40
120
3
42
124
I think everything wrong with US Black History Month corporate signaling be summed up by the flowery promotion of major online language company that teaches Klingon and High Valyrian and Esperanto but not a single West African language.
3
41
121
@mlcalderone
holy shit our president is literally the angry old man yelling at the tv screen.
1
16
114
@Super70sSports
Somehow this hits even harder than Carrol O’Connor being 46 when he started Archie Bunker.
10
5
119
@AnandWrites
My friends in Japan are polite but as I am sure others I get asked all the time some version of "what is wrong with your country?"
3
3
117
Check out this 300+ year old plate from Japan's Edo period that could have sat brand new looking on any 1970s kitchen table.
5
21
118
@dc_palter
It was one of those horrible FB reels so i scrolled past and couldn't go back to warn folks not to do this. Guessing the OP got a free umbrella from his hotel. Have seen umbrellas left so long they were in a separate give away pile, though.
0
3
115
Visiting seven temples as is New Year custom. Loved this one nestled in the hills.
2
4
114
@IreneEggink
@L2610
@TheRickWilson
Mueller's team prep is like the empty hole behind temporary walls on a city block. Months and months and months. Then boom a skyscraper.
1
13
107
I visited my friends kimono shop today. They have an Irate Spouse clause in their post sale checklist. 😆 “Everyone in your family knows you bought something here, right?”
4
8
115
I think many in the old/traditional house japan twitter community will appreciate this card sent by one of the remaining traditional building companies.
7
12
116
My research at Waseda University on diversity in Japan continuers and at present am looking for people who self-identify as Black (any nationality) who are fluent in Japanese. A paid interview will take place at the Tokorozawa campus, early September. Any interest please DM. 1/2
1
112
113
@dieworkwear
Peterson’s clothing choices can actually be judged as simply bad, bc he holds himself out as an exemplar of Western traditions and, as a bible scholar also pointed out in that regard too, he doesn’t seem to actually know very much. I don’t doubt his skills as a teacher and he
6
1
111
@endstpats
or, I should say, why give in to the idea that Irish = white since it actually doesn't.
8
3
88
Neighbor asked if he could drain the water from his rice field back into my tank and it makes me so happy to be a useful member of the community. And, my sister in law used our chestnuts in her rice. Some very primal (ancestral?) itch feels scratched.
4
1
108
Had no idea till today there is Kanto (right) and Kansai (left) style Sakuramochi.
11
9
102
@dieworkwear
Hopefully a stylist has this 20’s Yale Law School grad (and associates) picture for a reference.
2
1
104
I found a map on eBay of “Shimotsuke” 下野国 now Tochigi. From about 1804 (文化)With exception of the castles (now ruins) most of the place named in my spot are changed but a local friend helped me figure things out. Some of the older town appellations survive in school & farm
6
12
102
@NewYorkNico
@NYMag
I guess "The Warriors" is not a good answer for a candidate, even if its the right one.
3
0
97
Jiro Kinjo (1912-2004) was an Okinawan potter who was recognized later in life as a National Living Treasure. You can see the influence of his time studying at the Hamada kiln in Mashiko in the shape of this piece, as well as the fish theme of his native island. (Unfortunately I
4
12
101
Somehow (Book Off? Temple U. Book sale?) I ended up with Donald Richie’s copy of Kafka’s Parables. Very nice bilingual edition.
12
3
94
I had to tell him "don't give an English pamphlet to someone who just told you in Japanese about their favorite Heian poet."
1
5
96
@TheRickWilson
trump could still slither across the finish line, there are unknown variables in the next months. But I do think trumpism is in fast decline and he has lost his evil super powers.
2
5
88
The former owner moved out of the rooms at the back corner of the main house. Now that we’re finished our joint effort building the gardeners’ rest area (a shack in every sense, and laid out in a traditional country style with shoes/boots flooring and a raised tatami area) he can
4
4
94
@law_comedy
@TheRickWilson
Trump has been brilliant about creating that cultish in-world where "betraying" the group to the squares outside is ultimate humiliation.
4
18
83
@Absurdum14
@zaichishka
No the person was totally serious it was like number 4 on a list of ten things other real, good things about life here. He was happily carrying one of the exact types of translucent conbini umbrellas that gets stolen all the time.
2
0
95
I trimmed the trees at my house way back and now have these shadows fluttering on my screens).
#陰翳礼讃
5
0
86
Going to turn on the utilities in my new home tomorrow, and (naturally) hang pictures of my and also of my wife's great-great grandparents in the zashiki. Wife is like "what!??" that's kind of nuts, but no way I am moving in until they are properly installed. My only superstition
0
23
61
@EncyclopediaofC
@michaeljknowles
It does do something more though. 1) Confirms "horseshoe" a.k.a. "Knowles/Greenwald" theory 2) confirms "treasonous right" idea.
3
2
72
20 year dream realized. Ill-fitting 100% polyester light green jacket w/company name sewed over pocket. Not sure if I made up or once heard the term "oyajeeb" but it definitely applies here.
9
1
83
The detached rooms have an unusual tokonoma and ranma “midnight” pattern which of course I’ll be keeping.
1
1
83
@AdamParkhomenko
I really think "please tell us the names of your grandchildren" should be a debate question for him.
2
3
72
Tip for people in Japan looking to buy Minka or other Akiya type houses in the country. Make sure the land is not designated farmland (農地) -before- you fall in love with it. Nothing to do with nationality. Also nearly impossible for JPN citizens to convert this designation.
5
9
80
Between new management & end of year ppl are posting twitter intentions. I'm going to stay here to keep up with things and folks. And, use a professional account for my new passion: Owning and developing a mountain property at which I plan to host amazing guests and cool events.
10
3
81
Perhaps its not war casualties or imagined consecutive plane crashes through which Americans will feel in their bones our death toll's enormity. Perhaps we should reflect on US city populations. In a month the number may surpass Syracuse, Stamford, Waco, perhaps even Kansas City.
0
20
49
I lived in Akashicho and Tsukiji for total of 4 years, right near the old fish market. 2 enduring memories are buying uncooked saikyo yaki early in the morning and bringing it home + the days that got cancelled because an ojisan offered (challenged) me sake at sushi breakfast.
0
11
47