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Each resident of my
Each resident of my fine city has only 3 square meters of park to call his own. In comparison, Parisians have 12 sqm; Los Angeles residents have 18 and New Yorkers have a full 29 thanks to Central Park. If you are a lucky resident of Australia’s capital, Canberra, you have 77 sq meters of…
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Today I will tackle
Today I will tackle a small new challenge. I need to send 500 DigitalEve Postcard Competition flyers to one of our members who is attending the DesignFesta tomorrow. She’s promised to hand tham out and talk up our group. The challenge is getting them to her by courier. I should be able to take my…
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Last week, Tod “graduated”
Last week, Tod “graduated” out of his work team’s shift schedule and is now allowed to work whatever hours he pleases. From here on in, he’ll be concentrating on Unix engineering instead of system administration and doing it later in the day. However, when delivering the happy news, nobody warned him that there would be…
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Yesterday a new bank
Yesterday a new bank opened in Tokyo. With bank mergers happening all the time, a new bank isn’t a surprise. But this bank is a little bit different; it’s owned by a retail company that runs Japan’s 7-11 convenience stores. The new bank, IYBank, has no branches, only ATMs. I can imagine the business planning…
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Japan’s new foreign minister,
Japan’s new foreign minister, Makiko Tanaka, is getting herself into trouble. She’s outspoken, fluent in English and not your average Japanese bureaucrat. She’s been called “feisty,” a “maverick” and she really is a breath of fresh air, even if she is offending people right and left by cancelling appointments with foreign dignitaries and making bold…
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The 13th Annual Bunkyo-ku
The 13th Annual Bunkyo-ku Aozora (Blue Sky) Garage Sale took up three streets and a schoolyard. At about 11, I dragged Tod from his slumber to see the market. He broke his fast with a serving of yakisoba (fried noodles). I went into the schoolyard and joined the little children playing with the creatures in…
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In the heart of
In the heart of our residential neighborhood, a hotel is disguised as an apartment building. We’ve walked by it several times and commented on the French restaurant in the first floor. It’s a bit unusual for an apartment building to house a restaurant, but Tokyo is full of surprises. Last night, we decided to eat…
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I should not have
I should not have answered the doorbell. I am not prepared to rebuff relgious zealots in Japanese. They were sweet those two young women with pamphlets. “We are Spiritual Volunteers,” they said in English as they handed me a pamphlet in Japanese. I should have turned and fled. My problem is that I am stupid…
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With windows thrown open
With windows thrown open to let in the spring breezes, I’m discovering that my neighborhood smells like food. This morning, tonari-sama is cooking sausage and eggs. The other evening, I smelled curry. My own kitchen is as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s, so these scents are tantalizing. Oddly enough, I never smell Japanese foods, only…
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Outside our front door
Outside our front door is a tiny triangle of garden. When we moved in in October, it wasn’t terribly impressive–lots of unruly woody branches with green leaves. However, it evolved into a flowering wonderland this spring. First apple blossoms, then brilliant azaleas. Now we have huge red roses. The buds of pink spray roses are…
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