Tag: Life in Japan

One thing to know about Japan: everything starts in April, from the school year to the official start of work ...

I came to Japan in 1991 and worked for five years as an English teacher before deciding to take a ...

There are some fundamental differences between Japan and the West, for example the way there are no anatomically-based swear words ...

One thing everyone knows about the Japanese people is that they use chopsticks to eat with. It's true: except for ...

Japan is buzzing over the enactment of a new Secrets Protection Act which threatens prison terms for government employees or ...

Before you left for work today, did you hang your bed out of the window to dry in the sun? ...

When you come to a country like Japan, it's normal that you'll give up some things you might be used ...

One important concept in Japan is 和洋折衷 wayoh-setchu, which means "a blending of Japanese and Western" and which describes the ...

A couple days ago a newspaper in the U.K. published an article about the declining interest in sex by many ...

Japan is certainly a country with plenty of potential for natural disasters -- my mother once visited us for two ...

I watch more than a little late-night Japanese TV, and I enjoy its light- hearted goofiness. The other night I ...

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world, experiencing around 1500 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher ...

One sad aspect of Japan's society is いじめ ijime (pronounced ee-jee-MEH), the cruel bullying that happens in school, sports and ...

For a country of such famous subtlety and nuance, in which the subjects of sentences are usually left off because ...

One of the more interesting paradoxes about Japan is the way around 70% of people here will insist they don't ...

Without a doubt, one of the best things about living in Japan is the excellent service you receive on a ...

One thing you learn when living as an expat in Japan is how global the world can be. Recently my ...

One concept that's very important in Japan is 信頼 shinrai (SHEEN-rye), meaning "trust." There are many situations when you see ...

There are a few unpleasant things about living in Japan, like riding packed trains in Tokyo at rush hour, or ...

While quaint shopping arcades are certainly nice, the flip-side of life in Japan is that things can be rather backwards ...

I write a lot about how the Japanese are innovative when it comes to advertising, coming up with fresh and ...

Clang clang! Clang clang! Right outside my window right there's a fire truck driving by slowly, ringing a bell and ...

There are many innovative ways Japanese companies advertise to get their messages out to people, like running a short commercial ...

I saw a report that Japan had fallen to 101st out of 135 countries with regards to gender equality, dropping ...