What This Blog Is and Is Not

This blog isn't an attempt to address social issues or even life in Japan on a macro level. It's a highly personalized take on life in Japan based on my experiences and feelings. I'm not making any assertions that all places in Japan or all people are reflecting things that are mentioned here, nor am I implying that the things I mention here are not present in other parts of the world or cultures. This simply is an account of my feelings about life in Japan from a highly subjective viewpoint.

The format of this blog is intentional. That is, the short descriptions and personalized phrasing ("I will/I will not") are intentional limits that I placed on myself when I decided to do this blog. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the biggest one is that I've done a great amount of longer form writing in the past and this is a different sort of writing exercise for me. Clearly, the format has its limits, but this is meant as a notational format. It is not meant to be deep and broad in scope.

Each post should not be regarded as a whole and complete opinion on a topic. These ideas are facets of a whole, and each individual post is incomplete. So, please do not infer from the lack of a complete picture that there has been a lack of consideration of every angle of an idea. The full picture of a situation may not fully emerge until several posts have appeared, or indeed, until I've reached the end (or beyond) of making 1000 posts. This blog is a list and the nature of it is intentionally brief, not exhaustive. I edit myself for brevity and try to keep to a very specific point. These are not intended to be representations of my entire view and every single thought I may have about a particular issue. If you're looking for that sort of blog, you're in the wrong place.

Also, please note that the pictures on this site are representative, not literal depictions. For example, I may talk about health clubs and how expensive they are in Tokyo and show a picture of Gold's Gym, but that doesn't mean I go there or that that is the health club I'm talking about.

Thank you for reading!