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Today is a national
Today is a national holiday–Culture Day. Recently a friend and I were discussing the soul of Japan. We have different views. She seems to believe that the soul of Japan is missing; the uninspired, boxy concrete architecture and lack of outdoor spaces in Tokyo indicate a country with no culture; no heart. But I look…
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I’ve always known bowling
I’ve always known bowling wasn’t my game. Now I have a prize to prove it. Last night, I attended Perot Systems’ annual bowling party. My job was to film the event to include it in their year-end video. But I was also assisgned to play on a team! Of the three people listed on our…
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Out running errands, I
Out running errands, I paused at the corner of a tiny street to let a small bus pass through. The driver bowed to me as he eased the bus through the intersection. Inside the bus was one very aged woman wearing a brown sweater and a young woman in a red vest and skirt, a…
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Halloween doesn’t get a
Halloween doesn’t get a lot of notice in Japan. Like most Western, Christian holidays, Halloween in Japan is more of a marketing idea than a day of fun or celebration. Only this one hasn’t caught on the way Valentine’s Day has. I’ve seen very few jack o’lanterns, ghosts or witches in stores. I know of…
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The phone ringing in
The phone ringing in the night is a demon screaming. As a kid, my parents drilled into me that people don’t call in the middle of the night unless its bad news. I don’t think that we ever had one of those calls when I was a kid–news of a death in the family, or…
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Lunch is a treat
Lunch is a treat. I found a great little bento shop nearby. Bento, the traditional Japanese box lunch, is one of my favorite meals. Half the box is rice; the other half is bits and dollops of vegetables, tofu, meats, fish and other dishes. The bento shop in our neighbohood has a unique feature. You…
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Last night after dinner,
Last night after dinner, Tod & I stopped for coffee and dessert at a coffee shop that captured our eye. The sign was decorated with a mosaic of elephants, and carved wooden elephants lined the display case. The name of the shop is “Zou no ko” which means Elephant Child. One middle-aged man tended the…
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The sun rose early
The sun rose early this morning. Maybe I just went to bed too late. The entire country is one time zone–pretty impressive for a land that spans 20 degrees of longitude. That’s about the same as New York to St. Louis. Hokkaido has it worst. Not only are they at the eastern edge of Japan,…
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A week after arriving
A week after arriving home from Italy, my brain is still swaddled in in the wooly feel of jetlag. This morning I slept until 8:10. I had to get the trash to the pickup point by 8:30. So I leapt out of bed, quickly gathered all the trashcans and other garbage and made a run…
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The cupboard’s been bare
The cupboard’s been bare since we moved in, so yesterday afternoon I shopped along one of my nearby arcades. I bought one item at each of four or five stores. The old ladies who ran the tiny shops were pretty calm about a foreigner coming to buy katsuobushi, kombu and mikan. But when I pointed…
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