“Nanpa (ナンパ), also transliterated as nampa, in Japanese culture is a type of flirting and seduction popular among teenagers and people in their twenties and thirties. When Japanese women pursue men in a fashion similar to nanpa, it is called gyakunan (ギャクナン).”
After an unsuccessful attempt at finding love in Takamatsu which was due to a disastrous Google search of nanpa pick up lines, we got to see Gift of The Sun. Besides being adorned golden leaves with messages from the island children conveying their dreams for the future, one has to wonder why some leaves were left empty - perhaps some dreams should be left open ended like our personal goal of eating ourselves into a coma.
The Setouchi Triennale is an art festival that happens on 12 islands within the Seto Inland Sea and while some exhibitions are hit and miss, the characters you meet along the way was worth the travel. Being one of the very few Westerners to attend the event and maybe that’s because we’re on the dying days of the festival, the joy of seeing an obaasan (a polite way to say grandmother) try to navigate the English language reminds us all that conversations with obaasans should always end with a humble smile and giggle.
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© 2026 Johnny Nghiem
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