About Bunkabop

Our Story

The name "Bunkabop" comes from "bunka" (文化), the Japanese word for "culture," combined with "bop", a playful nod to rhythm and movement.

This reflects the bits of delight I feel when discovering unexpected cultural connections. As a small project, Bunkabop uses Wikipedia data to find cultural links that often go unnoticed. Of course, it isn't comprehensive or authoritative, but I think it's fun and sometimes gratifying. As time permits, Bunkabop could grow in scope and scale to incorporate more places, cultures, and people around the world.

I started thinking about Bunkabop while watching one of our young kids (I think around 1st grade) bop around the world's street maps. It was endless clicking through alleys, sidestreets, and random roads in Warsaw, then Tokyo, and even Nairobi. When I asked if he liked seeing different places around the world, he replied, "Actually, I like seeing what is the same. They have ice cream and basketball too. And this place has cats."

This simple insight stuck with me. It reminded me that culture isn't about isolation, whether individually or socially. Culture is defined and evolves by how we relate with each other. That's the spirit of Bunkabop.

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Places are shaped not only by the people who live there,
but also by those who travel between them.

If Bunkabop helps you notice a surprising connection or helps you think about a place or culture from a different perspective, then it's doing what I hoped it would.

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