Brian Ashcraft's discussions

Man, I wish!  Read more

Thank you! Fixed! Read more

Good point, thanks! Read more

The Imperial Hot Era continues on in our hearts.  Read more

It starts May 1! Read more

Since the Meiji Period, it’s been connected to the reign of the Emperor. (The Edo Period referred to Edo, modern day Tokyo and the then defacto capital. It is also called the Tokugawa Era after the Tokugawa family, which controlled the country. At that time, the Emperor was a figurehead and the political power shifted… Read more

That’s fine, but don’t expect to have Pierre Taki in it.  Read more

Correct, and that’s why there isn’t much motivation in Japan to do anything. Read more

I agree that history has shown the gray area legal matters are often left unenforced in Japan, unless there is some sort of provocation for the authorities to do so. Magic mushrooms were proof of that. There are countless examples of this even today. Read more

I’d be interested to see if there was actually any enforcement of that prior to the 1948 legislation. Do you know if there was? Or what penalties there were? Several times in the Edo Period, for example, there were heavy restrictions on alcohol, but many ignored that. There have been numerous times that tattooing was… Read more

I think that’s an excellent comparison. Read more

Agreed that those actions surely helped strike the same kind of concern the Japanese had about, say, the Portuguese trying to convert the whole world to Catholicism. Not sure if that exactly fits here. Yes, there would be those concerns when before and as Perry rolled up (as well as any attempts America made before… Read more

The reason why, I believe, is two-fold. One, drinking alcohol has long been connected with religion as well as has having a historical association with medicine. The other, more recent one, is that since the late 19th century, alcohol tax has been a large source of revenue for the government (these days, with… Read more

Fixed, thank you!! Read more

Yeah, I love that one, too!! Read more

It’s so so good.  Read more

But... this area didn’t even inspire the scene. People are just trespassing for no reason. Read more

Yeah, it’s a shame this album didn’t get the attention it deserved. :( Read more

I changed it to “projects” so hopefully that’s clearer! Read more

Good point! I’ll make a note! Read more