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Yesterday, the “big, black
Yesterday, the “big, black noise trucks” were out in full force. The extremist political groups own huge black, windowless boxes on wheels. On top is a railed platform for speeches and the entire thing is rigged with powerful speakers. Painted with Japanese flags and slogans condemning foreigners, non-patriotic Japanese, Russian island-snatchers or other brands of…
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NTT Kanto Medical Center
NTT Kanto Medical Center is cutting edge and when I went there last month, I didn’t think it was at all strange to be visiting a hospital owned by a telephone company (NTT is Nippon Telephone & Telegraph, Japan’s Bell Telephone). It didn’t even cross my mind. But when a friend described his recent problems…
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Typhoon 11. Phooey. Why
Typhoon 11. Phooey. Why won’t Japan anthropomorphise major storms like everyone else? I want to see Typhoon Ichiro or Typhoon Mariko. Throughout most of watery Asia, typhoons have names. The tropical cyclone names lend personality to natural disaster. Ironically, Japan contributed to the “Western North Pacific” names, but they don’t use them. Japan’s contributions: Tenbin…
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The Bunkyo ward newsletter
The Bunkyo ward newsletter arrived today. Tucked inside was an extra sheet, the Nishikata Dayori, that reports all of the local association’s activities. Here’s a sampling of what’s going on in our neighborhood: “The Nishikata Meeting Hall Reconstruction Team met on July 8th. The names of the team members were introduced in the last issue…
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We are experiencing a
We are experiencing a delightful change in the weather–the vanguard of autumn. After a day of leaden clouds and drizzle, today is clear and cooler. We slept in the path of a cool night breeze and even as I type this now, there is fresh air sweeping over me. I couldn’t ask for much more.…
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I tagged along to
I tagged along to the Tokyo Linux Users Group nomikai last night with Tod, mainly because he said our friend Ben would be there. Tod & Ben met on irc a while back and connected in person for the first time on Wednesday. Ben’s a total hoot–he’s got more energy than any three people and…
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ring “Kristen McQuillin” “Moshi
ring “Kristen McQuillin” “Moshi moshi…” “Hello, this is Kristen McQuillin.” “Moshi moshi?” “Kristen McQuillin.” “Moshi moshi?” “Ergh. Moshi. Moshi.” “Ah! NTT desu. Ashita ni kimasu.” […] Starting a telephone conversation is like vocally negotiating a modem connection. “I’m 56K, what are you? I’m 28.8. Well, I’m 56K, can’t you speak at 56K?” NTT was not…
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The fruit flies read
The fruit flies read yesterday’s blog and sent in reinforcements. A platoon of mosquitoes has attacked me and late last night something (maybe a spider) bit Tod on the head and raised a lump the size of a marble. But I struck back this morning by carrying a whole mess of fruit flies from the…
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I’m fighting a losing
I’m fighting a losing battle with fruit flies. Some eggshells left in sink this weekend lured them in. Now, despite cleaning carefully, I can’t seem to stop their offensive in my kitchen. Although they have the upper hand now, I’ll rally to a win when the weather changes. I live longer than they do in…
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You probably won’t read
You probably won’t read about this in American news. PM Koizumi made a very controversial official visit to Yasukuni Shrine yesterday. Why is visiting a shrine controversial? In this case, it’s because the shrine honors war dead who are interred there, including some infamous war criminals. China and Korea have been protesting this visit for…
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