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My pile of business
My pile of business cards, an essential tool for business and social relations in Japan, is starting to overflow. I am having trouble locating the ones I need. It’s time to reorganize them. I have two books with clear plastic pockets that are full of meishi already. I find this system to be tidy, but…
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We turned our balcony
We turned our balcony into a nice place to sit outside and enjoy the flower-scented air. Now I hear the heavy “flap, flap flap” of a pigeon struggling up from the railing to the roof. A pair of pigeons flies around our house from ledge to ledge trying to find a comfortable place to roost.…
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My friend Elizabeth came
My friend Elizabeth came through with an explanation of Sanrinbou, which I wrote about on April 13th. Elizabeth’s lived here for 35 years–she knows everything! “SAN RINBOU… written with the characters for “three” (SAN), “next door” (tonari, also pronounced RIN) and “dead” (shinu, also pronounced BOU). part of a larger, very complicated system of superstitions.…
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Our office room is
Our office room is undergoing a transformation. The balcony is sprouting a small garden suspended in oblong pots from the railing. Tara and I spent yesterday afternoon planting marigolds, pansies, and other orange blooms then fixing them to the railing with metal brackets. Tara washed the balcony floor and discovered a leak in the drain.…
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Sometimes there are too
Sometimes there are too many choices. Tara & I walked to the local Mister Donut to pick up a breakfast treat while Tod & Seth slept. We know what sorts of donuts they like, so when we started to select our dozen, it was with them in mind: French crullers, custard cream, cinnamon, glazed plus…
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Around the corner from
Around the corner from the house is a public bath. Seth & Tod were having a poker night (no girls allowed), so Tara and I went to soak in the hot tubs of the sento. The price of admission is 400 yen. After stripping your clothes into a wicker basket, you take your soap and…
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Today has double significance
Today has double significance in America but none in Japan. Friday the 13th and Good Friday don’t hold any special meaning here. Today is “San Rinbou” according to the Japanese calendar on my fridge. I have no idea what that is. Rinbou doesn’t appear in any of my dictionaries, so I think I’ll just concentrate…
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There is a man
There is a man standing in the gutter across the street. He has a basket of plastic pipe fittings at his feet and he is looking perplexed. For the past week, a white van with long pipes strapped to the roof has appeared at 8:30 am and parked outside my office window. Two men, one…
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My hands continue to
My hands continue to ache and I find myself in front of the TV too much. Last night’s entertainment involved two sets of celebrities competing to guess what someone in a restaurant ordered. They watched the person order from a menu that each team also had in front of them (“Ah, I think it’s on…
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Japanese TV continues to
Japanese TV continues to amuse me. Last night I watched a show that focused on poor people. After identifying a target, in this case a man and wife with a small restaurant in Yokohama, the cameras moved in an filmed every aspect of their lives: the lack of customers, their high food costs, their single-room…
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