Man dies, coworkers perform Japanese ritual for social media clout

A bit of inside culture from Japan. My sound guy, a 4-time J Academy Award winner and best friend for 20 years, didn’t make the morning train yesterday. I made the producer go check on him, and we found out he’d died the night before. At a time like this, staff raises a “kenpai.” (献杯) It’s a toast with a special honor of his memory. A single glass into which everyone pours a bit of the best sake, and clinks with levity. And so we raised one to my best friend Ito last night. Farewell, my friend.