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Chibikko, baby hotelier
“Our next guest is only 3 years old,” the bubbly woman TV announcer cooed. [cut to TV crew approaching door of resort hotel] “Irrashaimase!” two women in komono bow to their guests in greeting. “Irrashaimase!” a tiny voice joins in, a half a beat too late. [camera tilts down to see Chibikko-chan, dressed in a…
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al fresco dinner
“Let’s have dinner al fresco. We can sit outside at T.Y. Harbor,” I suggested. So as the sun cast a fuschia lining on a grey cloud, we sat at the intersection of the Tennozu & Takahama Canals, sipping freshly brewed microbeer and nibbling California cuisine. We watched the sun set; the sky shaded into deep…
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Critics wanted
Critics wanted. My book of essays about life in Japan is nearly completed. The first draft is finished and I’m rewriting and editing it into somehting I think is in top form. But I’ve been looking at it too closely for too long. I need some feedback from you. Would you like to read an…
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Business cards
Above and beyond the simple task of providing names and addresses, the business card is an invaluable resource in Japan. For business transactions the card, called a meishi in Japanese, lets you know exactly who you are dealing with. A junior associate, the section leader, the big boss? This is an important clue to your…
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Commuting in Tokyo
Commuting in Tokyo can be a major part of a person’s day. From door to desk, the commute to Tod’s office is about 25 minutes. 6 minutes to the subway + 5 minutes to wait for the train + a 9 minute ride + 4 minutes to the office. We think this is a reasonable…
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Substitution of ingredients
Substitution of ingredients is a fine art. My collection of cookbooks contains a number of books purchased at the source. Thai cookbooks from Thailand; Singaporean food information direct from Singapore. The recipes they contain are completely authentic, down to odd local measures, seasonal vegetables with unpronouncable names, and spices that exist only in a two…
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Screaming sirens
Over the past few days, we seem to have entered siren season. There have been an excessive number of screaming sirens rushing past our house. It started on Thursday when a cavalry of fire trucks flew past, decelerated and parked themselves across the street from Ban Ban Bazaar, a dry goods shop a block down…
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Semi shigure
“Semi shigure” describes the shower of cicada song that fills the air in midsummer. It is a perfect 5 syllables, just right for haiku. Haiku, in case you’ve forgotten from your 8th grade English composition class, is a three line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern. The poem must include words to invoke time, particularly…
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Another day, another realtor
Another day, another realtor The day before yesterday, I got an unexpected phone call from Yoshii-san at Relocation House who had faxed me a floorplan a couple of weeks ago. I had made an inquiry about a house through one of the realty databases on the Internet and now Yoshii-san was following up to see…
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Six month split
Since I first read about them in classic novels, I’ve envied the jet-setters who split their year between two countries. Whether they were doing New York & Paris in the 1890s, or LA & New York in the 1990s, there’s something about that ability to be settled, yet have change, that is extremely appealing. And…
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