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mothers

Japanese advice columnist shuts down mother who doesn’t want to give son permission to marry

The ultimate mic drop: comparing someone to WWII Imperial Japan.

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Japanese moms show their funnier sides, absolutely crack their kids (and us) up

Don’t let the seriousness of their love blind you from their sense of humor.

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Emotional video explores the gap between ideals and reality for working mothers in Japan【Video】

Get out the tissues because this short ad will make you appreciate family bonds all over again.

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Japanese moms tweet the stupid things kids do during summer vacation that drive them crazy

Oh summer vacation. For little kids (and big kids too!) it’s a time to finally throw off those backpacks, forget about homework, and have fun all day long running around outside or playing video games. If you’re the mom or dad of one of those kids, though, you’re often left to clean up in their wake.

And the same is true in Japan too. For the most part it’s moms who’re left to run after kids giddy with the freedom of no school. They’ve even started a Twitter hashtag for it: #SummerVacationStupidKids.

What kind of things do Japanese kids do to drive their parents crazy? Are they the same as the rest of the world or completely different? Read on to find out!

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The mysterious ways of Japanese mums that never fail to mess with our heads and funny bones

Mothers. They’re the amazing beings who carried us in their tummies and brought us into this world. Some of us live with one, some of us can’t wait to move away from one. Some mums are fashionable and love parties, some can’t send a text message without messing up a few words every time, some tend to nag too much, and some bake the best cookies in the world.

The bottom line is, every mum is unique in her own way, and they’re lovable for all their strengths and flaws…especially when they have their own hilarious methods of doing things, like the mums of these Japanese Twitter users!

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Three years of character bento, Part 2: Loving, hilarious mom continues to pester teen daughter

Do you remember last month’s piece which chronicled single mom Kaori’s three-year character bento spree? On the surface the project seemed to be about harassing her kyaraben-hating teenage daughter, but we learned that in the end, it was an incredible (not to mention eye-catching!) feat of parental love and dedication.

In Part 2 of this series, we’re going to put the spotlight on more of Kaori’s entertaining creations in tandem with some of her thoughts. And next week in Part 3, we’ll wrap up with the mom’s reaction to her long-awaited book, her “Countdown to Graduation” bentos, and a surprise from her daughter. So, before we get to this devoted mom’s moving, seaweedy words of wisdom and love, let the drool-fest begin! And keep your eyes peeled, you may even find your favorite character!

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Three years of character bento: A single mom’s quest to connect with her cheeky teen【Pt. 1】

A decade ago, when blogger and single mom Kaori used to work nights at an izakaya (Japanese-style pub) and didn’t have time to spend with her two little girls, they would leave letters by her pillow, telling her about a fight they had with a friend or how school was that day. Fast forward a few years, though, and her cute younger daughter became your regular moody, demanding teenager.

So what did this amusing mom decide to do? Kaori chose to annoy her second-born every day with something she hates: character bento! See mom yearn for a Starbucks, remind her girl to throw out empty bottles, and moan about making bento while hung over—all with the help of an X-Acto knife, some nori seaweed, and dollops of ingenuity.

While it’s impossible to showcase the entirety of her achievements in one article, here’s a “highlights version” that ultimately reveals a heartwarming tale of a hardworking mom trying to communicate with her adorable yet exasperating teen. And if you don’t care about that, then just gawk at the awesome photos!

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So that’s what they mean! SWAT hand signals as explained by a working Japanese mother

If we had a 100 yen for every action movie that showed scenes of SWAT teams sneaking around waving hand signals at each other, we’d probably have, um, a lot of yen. At least enough to buy a Happy Meal or something. But have you ever looked closely at those hand signals? For most of us, they could be making it up on the spot and we’d probably never know! Fortunately, this is the Internet and everything you could ever want to learn about anything is probably available online.

And that includes hand signals! For a few years now, charts explaining the hand signals that sneaky tactical groups use to communicate silently have floated around on the web, though their explanations have always been a bit…straightforward. “Stop.” “Look over there.” “Holy crap, they’re shooting at us!” All pretty standard fare, we suppose. But standard fare is never good enough for the Internet, and thus “Hand signals commonly used by mothers with babies” was born!

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