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samurai in modern america

beyond the samurai diaries

American Grit

American Grit posts from Japan, gathered on Discoveries.

Independence Day (14) Thank You, America (18) Questions for America (64) Visit Japan (41) Japanese Manners (45) Japan, Explained (71) Japanese Food (32) Promo & Links (9) American Grit (78) UK, What’s Going On? (16) Japan Speaks Up (17) World Cup (1)

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【MIRACLE SURVIVOR】

1 AM. Arkansas. A dog won’t stop barking.

At the County Fair, a Community Rallies to Buy a Child's Pig

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Is Guarded 24/7 in Any Storm

Americans May Argue About Everything, But When Trouble Hits...

Eli Dicken: Stopping a Mass Shooter in 15 Seconds

A papercraft samurai turning aside a hail of bullets with his blade

The America diaries are here

The wandering samurai diaries

He was deported once.

Climbing 37 Floors with 50 Pounds of Gear on September 11

Rick Rescorla: The Man Who Saved 2,687 Lives on 9/11

I’m not trying to start a fight.

When Katrina Struck, the Cajun Navy Came with Johnboats

The Great Boatlift of Manhattan: Half a Million Evacuated

Caught at the border. Released.

He was two weeks old.

One thing has genuinely surprised me.

When a Farmer Died, Neighbors Gathered to Harvest His Corn

Dan's Backyard Smoker: Feeding Neighbors Every Sunday

Tornado Sirens in Oklahoma and an Open Storm Shelter

They booed during the national anthem.

Eighty Silver Goblets: The Doolittle Raiders' Final Toast

When Texas Froze Solid: Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Laying Wreaths on Headstones: Say Their Names Aloud

My Uncle Left His Kneecap in Fallujah: A Veteran's Dignity

Train Like Your Life Depends on It: Jordan Salinas

A Yard Sale on an Ohio Driveway: Trust in Small Communities

Random 2am thought from Tokyo.

Ground Zero: A Three-Word Message Between Firefighters

May 28, 2026. Modesto, California.

Jack Wilson: A Small-Town Hero Who Saved His Congregation

Derek, 39, cracked his head on the bottom of a shallow pool.

March 19, 2026. Chicago, Illinois.

June 16, 2024. Texas.

A 12-year-old girl sneaks out to walk to the corner store.

March 12, 2026. Missouri.

3 deployments. Afghanistan.

Handcuffs.

Thirty arrests.

2008: rubble and doubt.

A siren rips the quiet.

In America, a lot of fathers never say “I love you.”

She was twenty-four.

An 18-year-old girl from New York went away to college in Chicago.

Her parents drove her to college in the fall.

He was arrested for drunk driving in March.

“I’ll kill your whole f--king family. Your children, your wife, all dead.”

Hoover Dam, 1930s.

She trusted this country.

Two immigrants met on a dark road in California, the day after Christmas.

Air cargo rules: ‘minimal containment strategy.’

Witnesses said the boy was set up to be killed because he was scheduled to testify in another murder…

The police put it in writing a year in advance: he is going to kill someone.

She walked into a German courtroom on March 6, 1981, sat down quietly in the third row, opened her p…

There is a kind of American town so small the man at the gas station knows your name, knows your fat…

She survived the war.

Four DUI arrests.

The baby was two weeks old.

4 AM. The school halls are still dark.

March 19, 2026. Chicago.

In one Virginia county, in a single recent year:

5:30 AM. Still dark.

『A Verdict Money Ignored』

A gas station in the New Mexico desert.

This country deported him in 2018.

She was eighteen.

“I just don’t want to die.”

She was forty-one.

Cable news anchor salary: often $5 million.

Read the timeline. Slowly.

Ohio ice storm.

The first law the President signed in 2025 has a young woman’s first name on it.

Three doors.

He had been told to leave.

The first time the system met her killer, he was crossing the border with no papers.

Sanctuary state. Sanctuary county. Sanctuary policy.

Her killer had a warrant out for his arrest.

Five deportations.

He had been told to leave this country.

It was called Feeding Our Future.

☕ Packed for the American road Swipe for gear →

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The board that types like a decision. Lenovo keyboard

42 hours. Music in. The street still talks. SoundPEATS headphones

16oz. Stays hot. You stop getting up. Self-heating coffee mug

You grind it by hand. The morning obeys. Hand-crank coffee grinder

Warm foam. Cold foam. The cafe line, cancelled. Milk frother

6 quarts. No PFAS. The pot that outlives you. Cast iron Dutch oven

Marinate. Carry. The backyard starts on time. BBQ prep tub

Corn on the cob. Held by crocodiles. Yes. Crocodile corn holders