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Posted on August 4th, 2010
I’ve written before about Japan’s extensive cultural heritage. I’ve visited many famous historical sites, such as Kyoto and Ise, and posted about them. I’ve also written about the quirky side of Japan; the side that likes drinking beer on the train at 8:00 on a Sunday morning. What I haven’t written about is the other OTHER side of Japan. The side that no Western mind will ever be able to comprehend. And, no, I’m not talking about my wife. Continue reading The Other Other Side of Japan Posted on July 7th, 2010
Work is a very important aspect of life here in Tokyo, but it is often said that people are truly defined by what they do outside of work. In a city this big, there is no shortage of fun, interesting things to do, but I’ve identified a few activities that seem to be enjoyed by nearly everyone here in Japan. For instance, after a hard day’s work, the first thing most people here like to do is more work. Alternatively, many people also enjoy the indiscriminate consumption of sea life. Having done enough work for a while, I recently decided to engage in the latter. Posted on June 30th, 2010
Yes, it’s just as the title says, only by “you” I mean “my Japanese ability” and by “the last time” I mean “again.” You see, even for someone of my ridiculously large intellect, learning a foreign language can be a very frustrating thing. This is even more true when the language you are learning has a completely different alphabet (or 3), and uses completely different grammatical structures. Compared to Japanese, studying a language like Spanish seems easier than taking candy from an automatic candy dispensing machine. In Spanish you can say something like “El carro es rápido” and be immediately understood by most any English speaker, regardless of whether or not they have any experience with the language. The same is most definitely not true for Japanese, and it gets worse; the language itself isn’t the only obstacle you need to overcome. Continue reading You Have Failed Me for the Last Time Posted on April 7th, 2010
Spring has finally sprung here in Japan, which means one thing: Sakura. For those who don’t know, sakura is a Japanese word meaning cherry blossoms. Sakura bloom but once a year, and they only last for about 2 weeks. Mostly white, with just a tinge of pink, the blossoms are incredibly beautiful. A sakura tree in full bloom is truly something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. The rich symbolism of such intense yet ephemeral beauty is not lost on the Japanese, and they treat each coming of season with proper pomp and circumstance. In fact, many people see sakura as a representation of the beauty of life itself; fleeting, yet so extraordinary while it exists. Yes, Sakura season is, perhaps, the world’s most metaphorical reason to get ridiculously drunk. Continue reading A Season of.. Joy Posted on March 17th, 2010
The Japanese people have earned a reputation for themselves of being very hard-working, and perhaps rightly so. Many of them do seem to spend an inordinate amount of time at the office, though whether they are actually working is up for debate. I believe this is why there are so many national holidays in Japan (Around 15). People literally need to be forced to stop working. For most people these official holidays are not enough, though, so there are also many unofficial holidays as well, including those imported from other countries and cultures. One of the joys of being a foreigner in Japan is seeing how the Japanese versions of holidays stack up. Continue reading A Day to Remember. Twice. Posted on March 12th, 2010
Relocating your life can be a rather harrowing experience, whether it’s to a new country or even just to a new building. This week, for better or for worse, my wife and I experienced the latter. In preparation for our eventual return to the United States, we decided to move to a cheaper place. Housing is normally quite expensive in Japan due to, among other things, a general lack places to put houses. Being married, though, allows us access to a very affordable housing option that would otherwise be unavailable. In Japan, this special accommodation is known as okusan no jikka, or in English: “the in-laws house.” Continue reading A Moving Experience Posted on February 16th, 2010
Living in Tokyo for any length of time tends to instill certain expectations in a person. For example, I have come to expect a great variety of fascinating things to do and see wherever I go. Another expectation I have is that each of these places will have already been filled with enough people to populate a small nation by the time get there. It was with this surprisingly erroneous expectation that I, along with my wife and a friend, embarked on a trip to Ise. Continue reading A Blast in the Past Posted on January 13th, 2010
Recently, I had the good fortune to be able to go on a trip to Ise with my wife and a friend of ours. Ise is a very old and traditional place in Japan with a great deal of historical significance. It’s also very cold. Our main objective was a visit to Ise Jingu, the large Shinto shrine there. Apparently it was a good idea, because the rest of Japan decided to join us there. As anyone who has ever lived in Tokyo knows, it’s a very rare case indeed to go anywhere without a hazardously large amount of people. I had hoped that Ise, being far out in the countryside, would be different. It was not. Continue reading A Trip to Ise Posted on January 5th, 2010
Hello again, and Happy New Year! It’s a bit late, I know, but in Japan New Year celebrations extend beyond just the 1st of January. I do use the term celebration rather loosely here, as the Japanese traditions surrounding the new year are much different from those of most western cultures. For example, there generally aren’t many countdown parties. For most people the sunrise of the first day is considered more significant than the stroke of midnight. As such, one tradition here is to climb Mt. Fuji New Year’s Eve night and watch the sunrise from the peak. I imagine this tradition is particularly popular with people who enjoy freezing and falling down a lot. But of course the festivities don’t end there! Posted on November 8th, 2009
This month marks a rather exciting time for my wife and me, as it was a year ago, on November 5th, that we were married! The first anniversary serves as an important milestone for us, as it marks a full year of not having to plan a wedding. Not planning a wedding is a great way to spend a year, and we are looking forward to many more years of the same! As this year is traditionally known as the paper anniversary, I had originally planned on making some origami for my wife and calling it day. I was promptly made aware that this would not be acceptable. In the end, we decided on a trip to Okinawa. |
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