a Nick in Time

a Nick in Time: a leaf poking from the snow

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 […]

February 25, 2013
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 […]

February 19, 2013
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 […]

February 13, 2013
Blizzard! Run!

Where I come from, snowmen aren’t made with two balls. In America, we build them with three. Frosty the Snowman, Sam the Snowman from Rudolph and his doppelganger Leon the Snowman from Elf all were made with three globes of snow. But here in Japan, they make them with two. When I asked where the […]

January 21, 2013
Tokyo New Year 2012

For a country with such a long history, Japan has very little traditions of its own. Even though the Japanese emperor’s lineage dates back to 660 B.C., the country’s main religion (Buddhism) and crop (rice) are imports from China. It is the same with Japan’s most celebrated holiday, New Year’s. The New Year’s celebration in […]

January 8, 2013