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Gang shoot-out?
HEADLINE: 2 killed in Tokyo gang shoot-out Are?!? Shoot-out? Guns are illegal in this country! What shocking news. I read on to discover that the shoot-out was one way. The other combatants were armed with swords. A dozen sword-wielding yakuza went to settle the score over a business issue with the crazy people who drive…
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Redelivery
Another form in the mailbox. I never seem to be home when packages arrive, so I often see the mailman’s special slip telling me he’ll be back. This one was a little different, though. It was from the Kuroneko takuhaibin (courier) service. Essentially, these forms are the same. They tell what time they tried to…
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Over 6 feet
They towered head and shoulders above the crowd. Half a dozen of them loped across a crowded intersection as I watched. They looked like off-the-scale plots on a scatter graph. Who were these Goliaths? I ran into them again at the train station. Six men, each well over 6 feet tall, not one under 200…
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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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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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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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