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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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Japanese medical insurance system
Japanese medical insurance system is government-funded. I’m finally getting to use my taxes! I pay 30% of the cost; tax money covers the rest. In the quest to figure out my headaches, I’ve had an MRI, an MR angiogram, an eye exam, and two consultations with my doctor. My cash outlay to date is only…
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When we first came
When we first came to Japan five years ago, I thought that Japan’s crime was quaint and retro, a restrospective of 1950s America: people with knives robbing stores; domestic violence; bribery; extortion; government scandals and coverups. But now it all seems terrible and truly violent. 8 children slaughtered at a school in Ikeda, a girl…
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We are almost out
We are almost out of coffee. Normal people would just run to the grocery store and buy some more. But we have to have whole beans, dark-roasted and oily. Our grocery store doesn’t carry these, so we purchase our coffee at a coffeeshop. A coffeeshop which is never open when we need more coffee. Tod…
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Adam lives in a
Adam lives in a swanky bachelor pad. On the outside, the decor is industrial–all concrete and metal with lighted pipeworks exposed behind glass doors. The interior architecture is minimalist with white, silver and dark grey the only colors. Adam selected individual pieces of interesting furniture and smart artworks. Excepting his books, everything fits the cool,…
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[OK, one final post
[OK, one final post about wireless networks and then it’s back to the humanities.] Years ago, I wondered what the world would look like if radio and TV waves were visible–beams of colored light, say, or threads showing the path from their source. Radio and tv bathe us in invisible sound and images but we…
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Lately, we’ve been reading
Lately, we’ve been reading about “war driving” (more at The Register) and other methods of finding unsecured wireless networks. It’s interesting to us for two reasons: We have a wireless network card in our laptop; Japan uses the same wireless standard as the US, but different channels. So we wondered if our US-sourced wireless equipment…
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Yesterday, the “big, black
Yesterday, the “big, black noise trucks” were out in full force. The extremist political groups own huge black, windowless boxes on wheels. On top is a railed platform for speeches and the entire thing is rigged with powerful speakers. Painted with Japanese flags and slogans condemning foreigners, non-patriotic Japanese, Russian island-snatchers or other brands of…
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NTT Kanto Medical Center
NTT Kanto Medical Center is cutting edge and when I went there last month, I didn’t think it was at all strange to be visiting a hospital owned by a telephone company (NTT is Nippon Telephone & Telegraph, Japan’s Bell Telephone). It didn’t even cross my mind. But when a friend described his recent problems…
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