tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51039149192497060242024-02-19T05:17:07.431-08:001000 Things About Japan...that I will and won't miss.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1320125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-27583836705046102242020-01-31T18:04:00.000-08:002020-02-01T08:14:11.280-08:00I wrote a book
I've been away from this blog for a very long time so I may be announcing this to an empty room, but I've spent the last seven years slowly writing a book and have finally finished it. If you like my writing in general, you might want to check it out. For the next five days, the Kindle version can be gotten for free.
Kindle version
Paperback
I've also created a blog devoted to displaying Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-32454744044049438052017-04-26T11:17:00.001-07:002017-05-09T09:57:35.571-07:00Hello, and an update, and then goodbye again...
Hello to any of my readers who are following this blog in a way which informs them of new posts. I closed the door on this blog two and a half years ago as I felt I was finished talking about Japan. I am finished talking about Japan, at least for the most part.
I decided to start blogging about Japanese snacks on a limited basis on my other blog (Japanese Snack Reviews) and that created a senseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-5185959533326988762014-09-01T12:03:00.000-07:002014-09-01T12:03:01.206-07:00Finishing Here
Since stopping my regular posting, I've been coming to terms with the changes in my life and I think I've reached the end of my need to talk about Japan. I knew the time would come eventually when I'd move from being in transition to being "finished". I'm not quite complete, but I think the time has come to let go of my strong attachment to thinking about Japan and my life there. That's my way Unknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-33621936466536580062014-08-13T15:54:00.000-07:002014-08-13T15:54:50.261-07:00Won't Miss #58 - pachinko (reflection)
I'm not particularly good at tuning out loud and obnoxious stimuli. When I walk by something that smells bad, is very bright, or is loud, it's difficult for me to ignore it in the moment that I pass it. Pachinko was a nasty surprise package of all three of these things. It offended the eyes, the ears, and the nose (the cigarette smoke, not the unwashed masses therein). The only way it could Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-79406902670581570992014-08-07T09:53:00.003-07:002014-08-07T09:56:25.042-07:00Random Thoughts: The Middle of the Sidewalk
Seeing this picture of the sidewalk in Asagaya reminded me of the fact that Tokyo sidewalks are much wider than those in the U.S. I miss those sidewalks.
Recently, I was walking down a sidewalk of about average size and an older Asian man was coming the other way. I was walking on the right side and he was walking dead center down it. As I pondered the potential outcome of his approach Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-86557683179213992262014-07-30T14:28:00.002-07:002014-07-30T14:28:48.374-07:00Will Miss #544 - not being condescended to
There are some experiences in America that I have had which I did not have in Japan which are hard to encapsulate into a post heading. This is going to be one of them. In 1988, when I left the U.S. for my three- to five-year planned stay in Japan that ended up lasting 23 years, the culture was not nearly so politically correct or corrective in America. When I say, "corrective", I mean a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-41195455000792218102014-07-25T17:18:00.003-07:002014-07-25T17:18:41.846-07:00Winners of the "Things Japanese" book contest announcement
Many thanks to everyone who entered the contest to win a copy of Tuttle's "Things Japanese" book. I appreciate everyone who took the time to talk about their favorite books (though I could not comment in the thread as it would cause problems with the selection of a winner by random number generator). The winners were "LostinThought" and "Monica Gilbert". Please e-mail me at orchidsixtyfourUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-5479113474561335522014-07-20T17:44:00.000-07:002014-07-20T17:44:14.324-07:00Random Memories: Brush with Terrorism
Have you ever seen one of those old detective stories in which a cop asks someone "Where were you on the morning of March 20, 1995?" Most of the suspects haven't a clue what they were doing and, if enough time had passed, they also would have little idea of where they were. We only remember where we were on specific dates is something special happened. I remember exactly where I was on the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-89322923851491380442014-07-17T12:29:00.003-07:002014-07-17T12:29:31.584-07:00Won't Miss #57 - drunkenness as an excuse (reflection)
This topic is one that has been on my mind for other reasons as of late. There are several things that have inspired thoughts about drinking and behavioral control, not the least of which has been the national debate about rape and alcohol in college culture. I took a graduate course in addiction last summer so I have a deep understanding of the effects of alcohol on the brain. It lowers Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-43807063139219920372014-07-09T21:59:00.002-07:002014-07-09T22:00:46.847-07:00A word about lost comments
Several people have mentioned that comments are missing. I'm not sure what is going on, but Blogger seems to be having a bad time of it lately. Unfortunately, there is nothing that I can do about this as I have no control over what Google does once a comment is submitted. I either get notified of a comment and publish it or I never see it at all. If you are using a particular account and failingUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-33797859449238974282014-07-09T17:44:00.002-07:002014-07-09T17:44:14.960-07:00Will Miss #56 - surgical masks (reflection)
One thing I have realized since coming back to the U.S. is that cultural context truly matters. This is something I've pondered in relationship to the debate over face-obscuring hijab or burkas being worn by women in the name of their native culture. In America, a country in which there is a fair bit of crime, covering ones face in a manner which obscures identity is a very different kettle Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-78162022382095756812014-07-06T10:31:00.000-07:002014-07-06T11:16:24.620-07:00Random Thoughts: The Curious Relationship Between Fish and Aggression
My mother was (and probably still is) a terrible cook. When I was growing up, I was taught that meat of any sort was not safe to eat unless it was cooked until its texture was close to shoe leather. To this day, my father will not eat a piece of meat if any sort of juice runs freely within it. Chicken in particular was considered a potential source of food poisoning unless all of the moistureUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-88352750509986667632014-07-04T16:58:00.003-07:002014-07-06T08:45:47.240-07:00"Things Japanese" (A Book Review and Contest)
Image courtesy of Tuttle Publishing
It was not uncommon in my English lessons for students to ask me about those aspects of Japanese culture to which I felt particularly drawn. In my earlier days in Japan, I often mentioned that I really liked sumo wrestling. This response invariably elicited a someone patronizing little smile and a question about which wrestler I liked best. The answer to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-16177191661586004292014-07-01T20:09:00.001-07:002014-07-01T20:41:39.136-07:00Won't Miss #544 - emergency call fear
One of my greatest fears in Japan was that something would happen and I'd need to call for the police or an ambulance. Communicating in a foreign language can sometimes be trying in the best of times depending on the context, the person you're speaking with, and the vocabulary required. Doing so in a situation in which one is in a panic is almost unimaginable. If there is ever a situation in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-60097801388257260452014-06-25T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-25T12:05:02.247-07:00Random Memories #78 - the last weeks in Japan - part 11
This final installment is more of an epilogue than a memory, though it will include memories. I'm sure that people who have gone away for a short trip or even a somewhat long one imagine my return to the U.S. was like a breath of familiar air as I stepped out into the world into which I was born. It wasn't. It felt more like being expelled from the womb into the bright, noisy, painful light Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-77005515573050579162014-06-22T09:49:00.002-07:002014-06-22T09:56:06.825-07:00Changes to My Blogs
I've been blogging regularly and steadily on both of my blogs since each one's inception. Both were created to serve several purposes from the outset. One was to bookmark experiences regarding life in Japan so that I could remember them as well as share my perspective on things both trivial and important with others. Another was to set myself a task such that I would develop my writing skills inUnknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-35610300676160587922014-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-19T08:00:05.150-07:00Will Miss #543 - "gift" wrapping
Dave Barry tells a story in his "Dave Barry Does Japan" book about a woman whose son gives his son a small gift-wrapped package that contains candy. Since it is not likely that the boy was carrying around candy in case he ran into a child that he wanted to give a little present to, Barry is initially puzzled as to how the Japanese boy was able to produce such a present so rapidly. He finds Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-78397890855660280362014-06-18T08:00:00.000-07:002014-08-14T09:42:04.275-07:00Random Memories #77 - the last weeks in Japan - part 10
I wish that I had written my memories of the last weeks in Japan shortly after I'd lived them. Two years down the line, there are things I remember with perfect clarity and things that I'm sure have slipped away. The same goes for my early experiences after returning to America. There were some very important things which happened when I had just gotten back that I wish I had taken the time Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-79517238368208815902014-06-17T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-17T11:22:22.282-07:00Won't Miss #56 - slow payers (reflection)
During my twenty-three-year absence from the U.S., a new way of doing business popped up. It became possible for people to do something which I never imagined that they'd allow them to do. That is, they could check themselves out at the register. In fact, there are some places which only do self-check-out ("Fresh & Easy"). At first, I found the prospect intimidating. Now, I wish every Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-9274601412972977822014-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-12T08:00:00.875-07:00Will Miss #55 - mochi (reflection)
When I was 24 years old, I thought I was as smart as I was going to get. Seriously. I thought I'd had a lot of experiences, grown beyond a lot of my psychological issues, and that I had pretty much worked everything out. As I got older, I didn't get dumber, but I did come to realize that I wasn't nearly as worldly and knowledgeable as I believed myself to be.
One of the conceits that we tendUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-41522656997627465192014-06-11T08:00:00.000-07:002017-04-26T09:35:07.376-07:00Random Memories #77 - the last weeks in Japan - part 9
The, mostly, empty living room. That box is the cable box, which the landlord said he'd look after. I also realized that we left behind not one, but two carpets that we'd installed (layered on top of one another in that room) and that power strip mounted on the wall. Oops, but there were no hard feelings. The landlord has written to us a few times with nothing but positive feelings.
The Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-13476395571578512502014-06-10T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-10T08:37:47.485-07:00Won't Miss #543 - "Japanese food is healthy"
One of the things you notice about not living in Japan is that people aren't nearly as interested in talking about it. That means that I no longer find myself hearing comments about how Japanese culture is superior in this way or that way on a regular basis. One of the highest grounds that people tended to occupy when it came to expressing how much better Japanese culture was than others (Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-13068822748080354442014-06-05T15:00:00.001-07:002014-06-05T15:00:38.013-07:00Will Miss #542 - relative income equality
I've lived in two different apartment complexes since returning the U.S. and, in both places, homeless people came by several times a week to poke through the recyclable trash for bottles and cans that could be redeemed for deposit. Though my half of the complex locks its trash containers, the other half doesn't, so I'll see someone with a borrowed shopping cart parked in front of their Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-17508355166016065062014-06-04T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-04T08:00:04.561-07:00Random Memories #76 - the last weeks in Japan - part 8
Among the earliest of my tribe of returning students was a woman who contacted me late in 2011. She had studied with me for about six months several years earlier and had stopped when she ran out of money. I will call her "M", and the memory of how I finished my time with her is one I've been dreading telling.
"M" was almost the same age as me and, like me, she grew up in a rural area and in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5103914919249706024.post-37162494061082583952014-06-03T08:00:00.000-07:002014-06-03T08:00:08.270-07:00Won't Miss #55 - hanko (reflection)
For those who don't know, a "hanko" (or inkan), which used to be referred to as a "chop" by Western folks, is a little seal that you apply ink to and use instead of a signature. In Japan, many families use them to "sign" official documents instead of writing their names. You can get them made for fun, but to use them for banking or contracts, you have to have a registered hanko (jitsuin). Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4