Adapting to Group Culture when Living in Japan
Living in Japan has certainly made me a more considerate person, and I generally thinks of others before acting on ...
Tag: Japan
Japan’s Food Problem and a Possible Solution?
Last time I talked about some of the interesting discussions I've seen on Japanese TV shows, even about subjects that ...
Robots in Japan and Lego MindStorms Soccer
The Japanese have a long history with robots, going all the way back to karakuri ningyo, mechanical dolls that mimic ...
Who Are the Role Models of Japanese Women?
It's interesting to watch the evolution of the various female role models in Japan over the years. Everyone has actors, ...
How Japan has Changed for Foreigners
Japan has really changed for the better over the past decade and a half in terms of how easy it ...
Tricks You Can Do with a Lemon and Chopsticks
The Japanese, of course, use chopsticks at almost every meal, whether they're eating rice, noodles, fish or meat. (Certain foods ...
Reflections on Beef Bowl and Japanese Culture
Over the weekend I took my son out for a bowl of gyudon, steamed beef over rice, the most popular ...
My Favorite Japanese Food, “Nabe”
It's winter in Japan right now, the season for one of my favorite dishes, nabe (NAH-beh). The word means "pot" ...
All about the Japanese word “Gambaru” (do your best)
One word that comes up in anime a lot is gambaru (gahn-BAH-roo, alternately written ganbaru, in Japanese 頑張る), a happy, ...
What Happens to Foreigners who Live in Japan Too Long
Strange things can happen to foreigners who live in Japan for too long. They might watch TV while drinking beer ...
The truth behind “Omiai” (Arranged Marriages)
When I was growing up, I remember thinking that they had arranged marriages in Japan, probably something I got from ...
Japan’s Wonderful TV “Talents”
Spend a little time in front of a TV in Japan and you'll see more than a few interesting "talents" ...
Barrier to white people learning Japanese: Kanji
Without a doubt, one of the big barriers to learning Japanese are the kanji, the Chinese characters that communicate meaning ...
Some thoughts on the series “Lost,” how to brighten a Japanese salaryman’s day, and how learning Japanese can get you fewer dates
I've caught the "Lost" bug, and am enjoying watching the series on DVD here in San Diego. One interesting aspect ...
The interesting status of voice actors in Japan, shortening foreign words in English and Japanese, and ways that the Japanese aren’t so polite
Anime has really gotten big in the U.S. in recent years, changing the face of popular culture as people are ...
The plight of the poor Japanese taxi driver, finding government waste very close to home, and how to sound like a dirty old man in Japanese
I wrote a couple weeks ago that taxi fares were going to be going up 7%, a rare instance of ...
The joy of “onigiri” rice balls, observations on cooperative elements of Japanese language, and man, that’s a really Nice Boat!
If you were to plan a picnic, you might pack a basket containing things like sandwiches, potato salad or maybe ...
Finding the geographic center of American English, adventures in New Zealand with plenty of sheep, and getting complimented on chopstick use
One question I've been asked by my ESL students in Japan is, just where is "standard" American English located geographically? ...
Funny moments in Japan, Tokyo’s famous Asakusa district, and limitations of Japanese “humility”
(It looks like we were experiencing some problems with the site due to heavy server load, although it's fixed now. ...
Having fun with perceptions, all about Japanese steak, and my trip to a Caribbean Beach
Perceptions are funny things, and it's surprising how easily they can be wrong. One day a student of mine asked ...
Internalizing a foreign culture through gestures, the current state of English conversation in Japan, and guess what day to day is?
Living in a foreign country means more than just learning that country's language. It also means subtly taking the local ...
Questions about ice cream in Japan, on Japanese students who use their dictionaries too much, and funny corporate slogans in English
I was once asked if the Japanese eat any flavors of ice cream other than Green Tea. The answer, of ...
