Seeing Japan through iced coffee goggles, relieving stress through coloring books, and how we gaijin can save Japan from its falling birthrate!
Whenever my wife and I try a new restaurant we order aisu kohi, which we use to judge the dedication ...
Tag: food
Japan’s most famous businessmen, when not to laugh at your students, and all about our prefecture
Japan's fascination with businessman Takafumi Horie (whose nickname is "Horiemon" because someone thought he looks like the character Doraemon) continues ...
Stereotypes of foreigners by Japanese including Girls from Ipanema, Japan’s “other” staple food, and more
Living outside my home country as I do, the subject of stereotypes has always interested me. Everyone has certain preconceived ...
New “keitai” phones for my family, all about Japanese names, and the Pluto – Gamilon connection
Saturday was "new keitai day" for our family, and we all went down to the local "au" store to get ...
Understanding how perceptions of foreigners affects us, learning culture through anime, and time to study some Japanese!
All countries are affected to a certain extent by the views of foreigners. I've read that the Chinese never really ...
The subject of English lyrics in Japanese songs, the drama of “juken hell,” and useless trivia for you
First, the J-List site went down for a couple hours on Tuesday night, U.S. time, due to a server hiccup, ...
Challenges of international marriage, housing issues in Japan, and all about Japanese bread (pan)
My wife and I face various daily challenges because of our kokusai kekkon, or international marriage. As an American I ...
My wife’s new respect for Johnny Depp, 15 minutes of fame for Baby Gorilla and Pyupa, and High School Baseball in Japan
Something odd happened while I was in the States: my wife decided that Johnny Depp was the neatest thing since ...
Differences between Japanese and English, how to say “like” in Japanese, and what’s up with that wax food?
When you start studying Japanese, one of the first things you learn is that sentence structure will not be anything ...
Understanding Japan through job resumes, reflections on the word “otaku” and Obi-Wan on our “point of view”
One way to compare Japan's more structured society with the U.S. and Europe is to look at the standardized Japanese ...
Some useful phrases for making a good impression in Japanese, Japan and the sweet potato-bank ATM connection, and fun at the San Diego Comicon
The San Diego Comic Con is underway, and although it's just gotten started, we're tired already, however it's the good ...
The value of spending a year abroad, various definitions of “bilingual,” and observations on Japanese females
If you ever find yourself in the position of giving guidance to a young person, try to turn them onto ...
Fun in my Miata, all about Sake and what to avoid, and the sound of silence in Japanese
We're quite a Mazda family around here, with a Miata in San Diego, a Miata (or "Roadster," which Japanese think ...
What you can learn about public baths from Street Fighter II, Japan and Yellow Cabs, and the end of 0%
There are many things to like about Japan: beautiful temples, delicious food, cherry blossoms, and Hello Kitty bento boxes. But ...
Notes from Anime Expo, culture shock and toilets, all about MOS Burger, and fun in Graceland
Hello again from an extremely enjoyable Anime Expo, which is still going on here in "Animeheim, CA." We're having lots ...
Back in the USA (and sleepy), English and my son’s spelling, and a theory of macro-economics
I've made the hop from Japan to the U.S. once again, going from the world of sushi and bullet trains ...
Learning to count chopsticks in Japanese, the meaning of GOD HAIR & MAKE, and Japan’s new yaoi boom
When you learn a language as different from English as Japanese is, some things are going to be challenging, such ...
Japan’s relationship to China and “Kampo” medicine, skills a foreigner in Japan needs, and all about tipping
Roughly speaking, Japan's historical relationship to China is similar to that of the West and ancient Rome and Greece: the ...
Benefits from Japan’s homogeneous culture, drawbacks to living in Japan, and the Japanese futon defined
Japan is, by and large, quite a homogeneous place. I've travelled from Sapporo to Hiroshima and have seen much of ...
Peter’s recommendations for karaoke, how kanji works, and where Japanese company names come from
I'm a fan of karaoke, and if there's a microphone nearby, you can bet I'll be willing to pick it ...
Back in Japan with culture shock, all about Japanese dialects, perceptions between countries and A-Kon wrap up
Well, I'm back in Japan now, the land of sushi and small cars and very cute things. No matter how ...
Looking back on 15 years of anime fandom, Japan’s culture of flowers, and pouring your own drink
Hello from beautiful San Jose. We've been enjoying the vibrant anime fans here at Fanime Con, and if you're in ...
Aya Ueto’s hit drama in Japan, how my son perceives English grammar as music, and what a “cat’s tongue” means
The most popular "unit" of television in Japan is the drama, which usually run for 15 weeks of hour-long episodes, ...
All about Pizza in Japan, how Japanese social relationships work smoothl, and things I’ve learned about my brain
I remember my first time ordering Pizza over the phone in Japan. I'd studied four years of the language at ...
