Friday, February 9, 2007

Japablum Explainer: The Japanese Flag


The Japanese flag features a big red dot over a completely white background. In Japanese it is known as Nisshoki ("sun flag") or Hinomaru ("sun disc"). This big red dot is meant, of course, to represent the rising sun. It can also represent an LP, a frisbee, or a dish bought at Target.

It is very easy to make your own Japanese flag, which you can then display in your room between your "Bela Lugosi's Dead" poster and your wall-length black and white photo of Chairman Mao. All you need is a sheet of white construction paper, a compass (the circle must be perfectly round), and the blood of an innocent to fill the circle in with. (This innocent cannot be a hamster; hamsters are sacred in Japan.)

Sometimes you might want to change the color, because you might think that red is outdated and boring. Try aqua. Or eggshell. (You could use real eggshells.) Or, I don't know, newsprint color. We can't be expected to think of everything.

Keep in mind that creativity is one thing, but tradition is another. The disc must be shifted left of the centerpoint by 1%. Please remember this. If you fail to do this, the Japanese government WILL find you.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

At first I thought you were one of those people I read about that has negative opinions about the Japanese flag.
Then I saw the home page of your blog, which says your a "Japanophile," meaning you love Japan (as I do! :D). So I thought maybe you were being sarcastic...
In any case...if you DON'T have negative opinions concerning the Japanese flag...then you have no tact, and a horrible sense of humour.