iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

You know, now that I think about it, it's kind of funny that I, someone who has never read an autobiography from beginning to end, chose to make autobiographies a central aspect of my PhD research.

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Japanese volleyball player comes out as gay in rare case

"Japanese volleyball player Rui Takahashi came out as gay on Tuesday, saying he wanted to help others struggling with their sexuality in a country where openly LGBTQ+ athletes are extremely rare."

japantimes.co.jp

Takahashi said his brother Ran, who is a hugely popular star with Japan’s national volleyball team, helped him come to terms with his sexuality.

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The more I read about autobiographies the more I understand that what distinguishes them most strongly from novels is not the manner in which they are written but rather the manner in which they are read.

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Recently asked a friend what animal she would like to be if she could be an animal and she said she did not intend on reincarnating again, which lowkey upset me because I really liked the idea of us becoming friends again in our next lives, but y'know what: have fun enjoying nirvana without me :/

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Emily @suika.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

It's not lost on me how Tokyo has been experiencing eternal rain ever since I left.

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Thinking about how when I had just realized I'm trans, back in 2018 during my exchange in Toyama, my two friends from the apartment next door bought me tofu because of the "estrogens" as well as beer that contains collagen lol 💕

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Emily @suika.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My review for A Unique Country in Asia (アジアのユーニックな国), which I saw at the Camera Japan festival this weekend.

3.5 stars

The funniest film I've seen in a very long while and Ami Chong's acting is truly amazing, but, unlike most of the protagonist's clients, at the end I was still left feeling somewhat unsatisfied. At various points, the film seemed to be working towards a messy climax that it never fully reached.

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Emily @suika.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Nine games that shaped who I am today

Pokémon Pearl
Pokémon Conquest
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
Minecraft Java Edition
osu!
Tetris Effect: Connected
Age of Mythology
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth
Super Smash Bros: Melee

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Something happened here.....

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the chair, the myth, the legend

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来世はセミコロンにしてください

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I'm on my way back to Leiden. It's been a good day.

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It's 2026 and doctors still haven't found a cure for Post-Japan Depression.

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Just had a little nap in the student council office at the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. Here's a photo taken from my current point of view✌️

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they're selling limited edition Italian Brainrot cereal in Amsterdam these days

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SD cards were too expensive at the electronics store so I ended up doing this instead

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10 oktober, landelijk woonprotest. Be there or be square.

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They're selling *Japanese* pencil sharpeners in Amsterdam for €4.

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『アキラ』をアムステルダムの映画館で観た後は豚骨ラーメン

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Good morning 🌞 It's Sunday and I'm on my way to Amsterdam, where I'll be catching a screening of Akira (1988) with a dear friend and hang out with said friend the rest of the day. Het wordt een hele mooie dag vandaag.

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人間より自転車の方が多いオランダには自転車ライト専用自動販売がある

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This film wrecked me. Maybe I'll update my review later, but right now this was all I was able to come up with.

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『すべて真夜中の恋人たち』と『アジアのユニークな国』をカメラジャパンフェスで観た。今はちょっと牛丼食べる。その後は『ミーツ・ザ・ワールド』と『ブルーボーイ事件』。お楽しみに。

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Apparently it's pride in Rotterdam today so all the information displays at the train station are now rainbow colored like this 🌈

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You can tell this list is complete nonsense because it has nothing by Masaaki Yuasa on it.

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Amazing casting with regards to getting Lupita Nyong'o to play Helen and Elliot Page to play Sinon. Both Zendaya and Robert Pattinson were great, but they also broke the immersion for me, as I couldn't help but see them as Chani and Mickey 18 instead of Athena and Antinous. It was a good film!

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seated for what (I hope will be) peak

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みなさん、いい週末を! It's time for the weekend! Fijn weekend iedereen!

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Emily @suika.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

今日はライデン大学でのワークショップで川上未映子さんと出会って、お話を聞かせていただきました。😌

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Thought the Beestenmarkt looked cute as I cycled past it, so I grabbed my phone from my pocket to take a picture while still in the process of cycling past it, and, well, here's the result.

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This report finding has been a big topic in the Netherlands the past days. On the one hand: many looking for excuses ("it's the immigrants", "it's because there's too much attention for all this rainbow stuff" etc). On the other hand: I'm seeing *allies* speaking up for the LGBTQ+ community.

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It feels weird how society at large seems to have gotten less woke in recent years, while people in my direct surroundings have only gotten woker.

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Watching "The Oddyssey" on Friday. "All the Lovers in the Night", "A Unique Country in Asia", "Meets the World", and "Blue Boy Trial" on Saturday. And "Akira" on Sunday. All of them in cinema for exactly €0 thanks to my Cineville subscription (€19 per month). 🫡

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Maybe there should be tone indicators in academic writing, because, while I understand that part of this text is ironic/sarcastic ("It's better to get on with the confessions..."), I struggle to see where *exactly* the irony/sarcasm ends before he reaches his 100% sincere conclusion.

How do I answer this? That my purpose in “Le Pacte” was limited, that subsequently, in Je est un autre (1980), I asked myself precisely these questions? You won't believe me. It’s better to get on with the confessions: yes, I have been fooled. I believe that we can promise to tell the truth; I believe in the transparency of language, and in the existence of a complete subject who expresses himself through it; I believe that my proper name guarantees my autonomy and my singularity (even though I have crossed several Philippe Lejeunes in my life); I believe that when J say “I,” it is Iwho am speaking: I believe in the Holy Ghost of the first person. And who doesn’t believe in it? But of course it also happens that I believe the contrary, or at least claim to believe it. Whence the fascination that Roland Barthes par Roland Barthes (Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes, 1975) has held for me; it seems to be the anti-Pact par excellence and proposes a dizzying game of lucidity around all the presuppositions of autobiographical discours—eso dizzying that it ends up giving the reader the illusion that it is not doing what it nevertheless is doing. “In the field of the subject, there is no referent.”'* To a lesser degree, and more candidly, many autobiographers have outlined analogous strategies. We indeed know all this; we are not so dumb, but, once this precaution has been taken, we go on as if we did not know it. Telling the truth about the self, constituting the self as complete subject—it is a fantasy.

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I literally can't see this word without thinking of Greninja

Screenshot of an excerpt of text. Highlighted is the word protean

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I have periods where the concept of finiteness really haunts my mind and it used to be so bad, I wouldn't tell others about it, not out of embarrassment, but because I genuinely feared they would then feel similar dread about how there's a finite amount of possible haiku lmao.

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Okinawa, the karaoke capital of Japan, shrugs off lowest rank | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

"Okinawa has more karaoke venues per capita than any other prefecture in Japan. Yet the southern island prefecture has also finished last for two consecutive years in a nationwide ranking for karaoke-singing scores."

asahi.com

When Satsuki Agarie plays the “sanshin” and begins singing Okinawan folk songs, regular customers at her lounge eagerly join in.

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Update: I wondered if it would be possible to install osu! on the laptop. Unfortunately, I could install it just fine. The good news is that I currently don't have a gaming mouse or tablet to play osu! anyway.

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One thing I notice, moving between Japan and the Netherlands, is just how much my memories are anchored to a place. Back in the Netherlands--or rather, back in Leiden--I am bombarded with memories from here that I didn't think about for the entire year I lived in Tokyo.

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A new report from Utrecht University and the Trimbos Institute shows a sharp decline in positive attitudes towards homosexuality among children in the Netherlands, aged 12 to 16. Only 36.5%, down from 59.1% in 2021, have positive attitudes towards it. Among girls, 51.3%. Among boys, a mere 22.3%.

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