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Autumnf ashion
Autumn is coming to Japan. I can tell by the change in clothing. Even though the last two days have been extremely hot (nearly 38 degrees), women are wearing fall outfits with long sleeves and all. Greys, blacks, fashionable browns, plums and burgundies are all on the streets now. Which isn’t to say that everyone…
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Taiko drumming
During dinner, we heard the sound of taiko drums. That meant that they were dancing the traditional festival odori dances at the Hakusangaoka matsuri festival. I grabbed my video camera and we headed down the street to record the event. Odori are danced in a circle around a raised stage and drummers. The motions are…
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Disaster Prevention Day
The first of September is Disaster Prevention Day. In a country where volcanoes erupt and a major earthquake is decades overdue, perhaps preventing disaster is impossible. But preparing for it is not. The well-prepared household has 8 liters of water on hand for each member of the family, dried food enough for three days, a…
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Computers in another language
Computers in another language. Being presented with a consistent user interface on applications is a boon when confronted with menus and files in a language that is unfamiliar. Sit me at any computer running Japanese MacOS or Windows and I can stumble my way through getting an Internet connection up and running. Even in Japanese…
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Gaze Aversion
How to Make People Avert Their Gaze in Tokyo Sit on a park bench, read a book and laugh aloud at the funny parts. Walk carefully balanced along the edge of a fountain. Strike poses while perched on a rock or ledge. In the middle of an open plaza, stretch out your arms and spin.…
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Mt. Oyama
Yikes! Mt. Oyama’s erupted (again). Miyakejima, one of the Izu islands stretching south from Tokyo, has been experiencing earthquakes and eruptions for months. This morning’s paper shows sulfurous clouds billowing over the landscape while residents look on. After a series of minor eruptions over the last two weeks, the volcanic soothsayers are saying the volcano…
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House found
We’ve been househunting for two and a half months, since the fateful day in June when our landlord told us he had to sell the house we live in now. I’ve looked at scores of floorplans and visited about two dozen house in person. We’ve finally found one to move to. The funny thing is,…
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Ahead
In many respects, Japan is far ahead of the US. Of course Japan gets all its own, best technology first. New game machines, computer models, audio innvations, are released months ahead of the US market. But Japan’s ahead in other ways, too. It is the only country I know where you can buy and consume…
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Mom-cycle
The Mom-cycle. Practical transportation or inhuman child torture? Tokyo is a city full of bikes. People operate them with varying levels of skill, but most cyclists are either daredevils whizzing between people and cars, or roadhogs taking over as much sidewalk as possible. Always a hazard to pedestrians, bicycles are sometimes a hazard to their…
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Kanji studies
Monbusho, the Japan’s Ministry of Education, maintains a list of kanji that must be learned in each grade from 1st through 12th. By the time you graduate from high school, you have over 1800 under your belt. Kanji are tricky. Some like tree or dog mean something when standing alone on a page. Others have…
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