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As we conclude Disaster
As we conclude Disaster Preparedness Week, our neighborhood supply shed has been cleaned out. In every train station, disaster maps are posted that show evacuation areas. Our first refuge is across the street in the tiny play park. From there we and the neighbors proceded to the large botanical garden if necessary. A team of…
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Mom always said pretty
Mom always said pretty on the inside is pretty on the outside. So now I know that she was right. Everything inside me is normal, my doctor tells me. And that’s good news. But look at me revealed by magnets and radio waves–what a horrifying mug with those googly eyeballs! I’m ready for Haloween any…
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Another autumn treat–wonderful menus
Another autumn treat–wonderful menus of fall foods. Kushikyu, our local pub, held a Kinoko Matsuri (mushroom festival) yesterday. We ate seven different mushrooms prepared as kushiyaki (skewered and grilled). I’d never eaten so many different kinds at once and it was a great opportunity to compare flavors. Earthy shiitake and woody maitake are my favorites.…
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Last night I heard
Last night I heard crickets chirping and realised that autumn is upon us. The late-summer hum of cicadas is over. Where did they go? They must have vanished during the rain. The whole world feels a little bit cooler as the crickets’ syncopated beat breaks up the silence.
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I must be the
I must be the only busybody in the neighborhood. Or maybe I’m the only one at home during the day. Yesterday afternoon, two cars collided at the intersection outside our house. Hearing the thump and crunch of metal, I leaped from my desk and threw open the window. A man was stepping from his crumpled…
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The weekly classified in
The weekly classified in Tokyo are often strange. In addition to the lonely hearts ads, the transient foreign population has an abundance of sayonara sales to sell off everything in an apartment before moving from Japan, and plenty of individual appliances, computers and furniture for sale. But most interesting ads are in the Help Wanted…
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Ah, I didn’t win
Ah, I didn’t win in the Kamo-Mail lottery. Kamo-Mail is a summer greeting postcard sold by the post office and sent mainly by business to their customers. We received one from Inoue-san, our realtor. The postcard is imprinted with a 6 digit number and yesterday (lottery day, remember?) the winning numbers were announced. Very cleverly,…
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Shinano, a new restaurant
Shinano, a new restaurant near Kasuga station, serves the best tonkatsu in the neighborhood. Brightly lit and freshly decorated with traditional tables in blonde wood and hanging lamps with white washi shades, the focus of this eatery is the quality of their meat. Tokatsu is crispy breaded, deep fried pork cutlet. Shinano starts off with…
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“Dorobou-mawari,” Oyama-sensei said as
“Dorobou-mawari,” Oyama-sensei said as she gestured with an anti-clockwise motion. We were going to take turns answering our homework questions. But the term dorobou-mawari confused us, despite the gesture. We know both words: ‘robber’ & ‘going around’ but why did she say that? Oyama-sensei explained. “Back when people wore kimono, they tucked their wallets in…
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Add another volunteer project
Add another volunteer project to my To Do list. Yanesen Magazine is a neighborhood publication that focuses on the historical aspects of the old shitamachi area in Bunkyo-ku. They have published in Japanese since 1984 and produced a scant few issues in English. I have a copy of the 1992 English edtion of Yanesen (loaned…
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