Month: August 2009

Japan currently stands at the brink, staring down at an abyss so hellish I can scarcely contemplate it. I'm talking, ...

Well, singer Noriko Sakai has turned herself in to the authorities, admitting to using stimulant drugs with her husband for ...

The primary test for students of Japanese is the Japanese Language Ability Test, or JLPT, used by a mind-blowing 500,000 ...

It's funny how the Internet can bring out the best and the worst in people, and all of us seem ...

The other day my wife was writing my name and address on a box she was going to send to ...

There comes a time in every Japan-loving gaijin's life when he or she must take the plunge and climb Mt. ...

Japan's entertainment world has been turned upside-down by a perfect storm of scandals this week. First, actor Manabu Oshio was ...

The Japanese government is moving ahead with a plan to lower the official age at which a person is considered ...

Well, I'm back on the other side of the world, having made the hop from California to Japan, a journey ...

In the summer the Japanese love matsuri, or festivals, which are a fun time to wear traditional clothes and carry ...

Last time I talked about the way Japanese perceive Westerners, who kind of hold a special place in society here ...

The other day I was writing one of my J-List updates, and a rather embarrassing thing happened to me: I ...

Everyone knows sake (SAH-kay), the famous rice-brewed beverage that's one of the most famous images of Japan. But another popular ...

I'm often asked how Japanese view the gaijin that live in their midst, disrupting the precious harmony the country is ...