I don’t respond to Japanese children (or adults) who say “hello” to me on the street. My reasons are varied: #1 By responding, you are reinforcing the widely held view that all foreigners of Western distinction speak English decently. Japanese children need to become more aware that this is not the case. #2 I don’t […]
In recent months I have really streamlined my phone, but there are some apps that I use regularly that make the humid summer days of no-aircon Sapporo pass a little more smoothly. First, the phone: the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. I know it’s not the latest model, but until NTT docomo or a competitor offers […]
My daily commute consists of taking a tram(streetcar) for approximately 15 minutes, followed by a 10 minute subway ride, and then culminating in a 20-25 minute bus ride. It’s a thing of absolute precision. Rarely have I had a delay, even on the buses – traversing some tough snowstorms in the early morning – usually […]
Moving to a new place also gets my creative juices flowing. While the unpacking has been tedious, and the Japanese red-tape involved mind numbing, we have finally gotten completely settled into our new apartment (after two weeks of early breakfasts camping out at my in-laws). My bookshelf was successfully hauled up through the 5th story […]
Many moons ago I wrote of my strange fetish for the Man Cave and how the condensed nature of Japanese life led me to create the next best thing in the form of the Micro-Man Cave, an elaborately arranged series of shelves that represented all that is good and decent in my own “dudeness”. Sadly, […]
Being a lifelong dog lover, living in the constriction that defines Japanese urban life has forced me to abandon man’s best friend until we move to more spacious environs (or finding a landlord that permits pets). Under pressure from a dog crazed wife, I finally consented to her pleads to check out a nearby pet […]
Tokyo on Foot: Travels in the City’s Most Colorful Neighborhoods by Florent Chavouet My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book called out to me the moment I saw it in the book store. There are numerous books which try to capture the feelings one has when visiting Japan for the first time. Few do […]
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars What I enjoyed most about this novel is the language of the traders on Dejima. You’ll learn over 20 ways to describe the pain associated with gout and/or syphilis via the descriptive prowess of a 1800s English sea captain. […]