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Last night I heard
Last night I heard crickets chirping and realised that autumn is upon us. The late-summer hum of cicadas is over. Where did they go? They must have vanished during the rain. The whole world feels a little bit cooler as the crickets’ syncopated beat breaks up the silence.
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I must be the
I must be the only busybody in the neighborhood. Or maybe I’m the only one at home during the day. Yesterday afternoon, two cars collided at the intersection outside our house. Hearing the thump and crunch of metal, I leaped from my desk and threw open the window. A man was stepping from his crumpled…
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The weekly classified in
The weekly classified in Tokyo are often strange. In addition to the lonely hearts ads, the transient foreign population has an abundance of sayonara sales to sell off everything in an apartment before moving from Japan, and plenty of individual appliances, computers and furniture for sale. But most interesting ads are in the Help Wanted…
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Ah, I didn’t win
Ah, I didn’t win in the Kamo-Mail lottery. Kamo-Mail is a summer greeting postcard sold by the post office and sent mainly by business to their customers. We received one from Inoue-san, our realtor. The postcard is imprinted with a 6 digit number and yesterday (lottery day, remember?) the winning numbers were announced. Very cleverly,…
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Japanese calendar
It could take all day to explain this calendar page. Today is Sunday, September 2nd. On the lunar calendar, it’s 7/15 and the feast of the dead, Bon. Today is also “lottery day” (takarakuji no hi). In the ancient calendar today is a dragon day (the seahorse is known as “dragon’s child”) and its element…
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Shinano, a new restaurant
Shinano, a new restaurant near Kasuga station, serves the best tonkatsu in the neighborhood. Brightly lit and freshly decorated with traditional tables in blonde wood and hanging lamps with white washi shades, the focus of this eatery is the quality of their meat. Tokatsu is crispy breaded, deep fried pork cutlet. Shinano starts off with…
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“Dorobou-mawari,” Oyama-sensei said as
“Dorobou-mawari,” Oyama-sensei said as she gestured with an anti-clockwise motion. We were going to take turns answering our homework questions. But the term dorobou-mawari confused us, despite the gesture. We know both words: ‘robber’ & ‘going around’ but why did she say that? Oyama-sensei explained. “Back when people wore kimono, they tucked their wallets in…
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Add another volunteer project
Add another volunteer project to my To Do list. Yanesen Magazine is a neighborhood publication that focuses on the historical aspects of the old shitamachi area in Bunkyo-ku. They have published in Japanese since 1984 and produced a scant few issues in English. I have a copy of the 1992 English edtion of Yanesen (loaned…
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Japanese medical insurance system
Japanese medical insurance system is government-funded. I’m finally getting to use my taxes! I pay 30% of the cost; tax money covers the rest. In the quest to figure out my headaches, I’ve had an MRI, an MR angiogram, an eye exam, and two consultations with my doctor. My cash outlay to date is only…
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When we first came
When we first came to Japan five years ago, I thought that Japan’s crime was quaint and retro, a restrospective of 1950s America: people with knives robbing stores; domestic violence; bribery; extortion; government scandals and coverups. But now it all seems terrible and truly violent. 8 children slaughtered at a school in Ikeda, a girl…
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