Tag: Japan

What is the "perfect" girl? According to Japan, it seems to be someone who is half-Japanese and half-British (or French), ...

Last time I mentioned the words uchi and soto, meaning in-group and out-group, which is a favorite topic of Japan ...

Yesterday was the Vernal Equinox and the official start of spring, which is welcome news to this San Diego boy, ...

It's fun to analyze the various social rules at work in Japan, most of which are completely invisible to Japanese ...

This weekend is a special one for me. Mrs. J-List has gone with a friend to South Korea, so I ...

One of the many challenges Japan faces in the 21st century is getting a handle on its suicide rate, which ...

One interesting aspect of living in Japan is learning to read the unique body language of people around you, which ...

Back in the early days of the web and Usenet, foreigners living in Japan started a list called "You've been ...

We recently bought dot matrix printer, of all things, which is needed to automate shipping of EMS orders (the forms ...

Last time I talked about various ways in which the Japanese custom of taking off shoes while at home has ...

While not nearly as lavish as the Hollywood-level TV commercials created for the Superbowl, Japanese "CMs" are a lot of ...

I hope everyone in the States enjoyed the Superbowl. Unfortunately Sunday in the U.S. is Monday morning here in Japan ...

Learning a foreign language is good for reasons beyond the obvious benefit of being able to communicate and share ideas ...

Yesterday I went to Akihabara on business, which is always more fun than sitting behind a computer screen at the ...

One aspect of Japan I've always been impressed with is the way popular culture is closely tied to history in ...

One interesting Japanese TV show I watch sometimes is called "Miraculous Experience Unbelievable," a drama-variety show hosted by famed director ...

You never know what random Japan-related thing will become popular on the Internet next. One day it'll be a TV ...

I've just returned from a four-day trip to Taiwan with my family, our first visit to the mountainous nation that's ...

Happy New Year, or as Japanese young people say these days, ake-ome! which is short for akemashite omedetou gozaimasu or ...

Well, 2011 is finally at an end. It was a very strange year, filled with events that no one could ...

Yesterday I went to take a photo at an automated machine, which I needed for some documentation I had to ...

While I certainly love sushi, sashimi, sukiyaki and other types of exotic Japanese cuisine, I often find my favorite foods ...

Japan's relationship with the English language is an interesting one. All Japanese study three years of English in junior high ...

The Japanese language has not one but three writing systems: hiragana, a syllable-based system for expressing sounds and grammatical particles; ...