a Nick in Time

Month: February 2013

  • Getting about

    Proper etiquette is very important in Japan. Unfortunately, etiquette is not my forte. In a city as dense as Tokyo – 12 million people jammed into an area slightly larger than Des Moines – general rules of propriety are important. For example, if you have a cold, you should wear a mask to prevent spreading […]

  • Nine months

    Editor’s note: This isn’t an entirely new blog post, but is an old one that I rewrote for publication. Anyhow, it is relevant enough to repost. February marks the ninth month that I have lived in Tokyo.  It is easy to make allegories/metaphors/allusions to rebirth. Instead I’ll make a more personal comparison. Moving from the […]

  • A trip to Osaka and an homage to octopus balls

    This past weekend was a three-day holiday in Japan. I am not quite certain what the holiday was celebrating. The Japanese government enacts approximately one three-day weekend every month. Not because they are particularly generous, but the holidays are to counteract the Japanese companies’ tendency to work their employees’ fingers to the bone. Japanese salarymen […]