Tag: USA

The idea that America is more "free" than Japan is one I've encountered quite often during my ESL teaching days. ...

I write a lot about wacky Japanese television because, well, it's so wacky. While I do my best to correct ...

It never fails: you're just going along, minding your own business when suddenly Japan comes out of nowhere and surprises ...

One interesting area of life in Japan is weddings, and Japanese really take the subject of getting married seriously. One ...

When I first arrived in Japan 19 years ago, I brought a lot of preconceived notions with me. Like, the ...

Over the weekend I went to my daughter's bunka-sai or school culture festival. Anyone who's watched more than a few ...

October 1st is the day for koromo-gae (lit. "clothes changing"), when millions of Japanese high school students switch from their ...

It's interesting having kids who are half Japanese and half American, and my wife and I put quite a lot ...

One aspect of Japan that appears odd to us free-thinking foreigners is how strict the educational system can be, especially ...

If you ever visit Japan, it's good manners to bring gifts called omiyage (oh-mee-YAH-gay) to Japanese you will be visiting ...

Japan is absolutely one of the most pro-American countries in the world, with most people possessing a positive view of ...

Today I was doing some cleaning in my home in the San Diego when I came across a large bag ...

Yesterday marked the 25th anniversary of the tragic crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123, which occurred in my home prefecture ...

I caught an article in Time the other day which presented the case against the long three-month summer vacation in ...

Yesterday I took my wife out to my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Diego. While she scarfed down the refried ...

No matter how long a person lives in Japan, there are always things that can bring on what expats call ...

Suki desu ka? One of the first useful words a student of Japanese learns is how to say "like" (suki), ...

Although I try to avoid going to Wal-Mart, sometimes I find myself needing something that's convenient to buy there. Last ...

Over the weekend I came across a cool map of old Route 66 in my house in San Diego, and ...

This Sunday is my 12th anniversary as a J-blogger. J-List has been around since 1996, but I trace my beginning ...

Driving in the U.S. after living in Japan for so long presents certain challenges. Like the U.K., Australia and New ...

One of the better aspects about living in Japan, from the point of view as a Yankee expat, is the ...

One of my Twitter followers asked me a question the other day. "What items do you take back to Japan ...

Whenever I'm back in the U.S., I like to go to the grocery store and compare the various products I ...