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Mini-digger SKR-301
9:01 am. The extremely cute, bright turquoise mini-digger (model SKR-301) is doing a balletic dance from its flatbed truck to the ground. The skilled operator uses the digging head as a fulcrum to slide the machine off the raked bed of the truck without bouncing it off the asphalt. Sadly, it is a Sunday morning….one…
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Electric Work
“Hey, come quick. There’s a man walking on the power lines outside the window,” Tara urged from the office. Sure enough, there he was. He and his companion were dressed in the uniforms of the electric company and were walking along the power lines, inexplicably unbundling the wires that were spiralled together. Tara stuck her…
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Japanese holidays
Japanese lawmakers are angling for more long weekends. This year saw the change of two holidays (Coming of Age Day in January and Health-Sports Day in October) from fixed dates to floating Mondays to create long weekends. This is great for overworked salarymen and a boost for the economy as many people turn these three-day…
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i-mode penetration
20 million i-mode users
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Everyday tongue twister
Although there’s no phrase for “tongue twister” in Japanese, the language has quite a few words that are challenging to say. Japanese has 5 vowel sounds (plus a few dipthongs) ah (a), ee (i), oo (u), eh (e), & oh (o). Paired with the 11 consonant sounds, this means pronunciation is very regular. Ko is…
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Japan Webgrrls 4th Anniversary
Today, one day only. Japan Webgrrls 4th Anniversary event, e-Lifestyles This is the volunteer project that’s eaten up all my spare time this fall. In fact, it’s eaten all my sleep, too, at least last night. We’ll have a video premiere, “e-Lifestyles” demonstrations, speakers and a keynote presentation. Plus refreshments, and really great door prizes.…
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4:00 am, Tokyo
At 4:00 am, Tokyo is very quiet. The hum of my computers drowns out the distant sounds of sparse traffic. Birds are asleep; school children are asleep. The construction sites all around me are still. The sun is waiting in the wings for his cue to come onstage. The sky is inky; streetlights dot the…
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Ah, home
Ah, home. The familiar sounds and smells of Tokyo welcomed me back home this evening. The musical train announcements, the sound of bicycles swerving to avoid pedestrians, the scents of oden and ramen wafting over the smell of car exhaust. It’s good to be home.
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Bank tranfer
On the Narita Express, 60 seconds from the airport station, Tod’s cell phone rings. It’s Susan Tani calling to give us the billing information for Sunday’s move. “Can you pay promptly?” she asks. We want to pay, but we’re on our way out of Japan for two weeks. What can we do? On the way…
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Trash collection
Finding the trash collection point in our new neighborhood was an adventure. Shimizu-san, a neighbor, paid a call on me yesterday afternoon to welcome me to the neighborhood. Or maybe she was a spy for her friend, Matsuino-san, who used to live here. But I put her to the test when I asked if she…
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