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December 30, 2024
 

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Thomas Dillon
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 9, 2009
In search of picture-perfect Tokyo
Tokyo is infested with camera bugs. I can identify three species, at least.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 18, 2009
A little Mc-wrath with coffee
This is a chilly winter's tale, one now warmed both by passing time and the gentle breezes of spring.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 4, 2009
Making my dentist smile
My very first kiss was not from a girl but from a Rawlings baseball.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 21, 2009
Culture shock connections
Japan is not as shocking as it used to be.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 7, 2009
Statistically speaking
The way the pieces fit together in my local jigsaw puzzle of suburbia is that my property borders on that of seven other homes. Four of these families I have a nod-and-smile acquaintance with. The other three I might recognize by voice, for their words sometimes cut right through our walls.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 21, 2009
Tangling over chopsticks
"You know what we should do?" I tell my wife over lunch. "Find a way to insert some Chapstick onto the end of a chopstick. We could call it the "Chapchop-stick" and make millions."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 7, 2009
The venom of the expatriate's choice
In a corner of my office, next to a shelf containing such diverse items as a biography of Willie Mays, Quirk and Greenbaum's "A Grammar of Contemporary English," and Carole Bloom's "All About Chocolate," sits a polyethylene snake, 45 cm tall.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 24, 2009
The language game — here's what not to do
Life is full of stupid moves.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 10, 2009
There's a day for everything
Today is Jan. 10, with Japan having now wound down its holiday celebrations and settled in for another hard year of work, work, work.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 20, 2008
Remembering the ghost of a Christmas past
I prefer this season not as one of tinsel, lights and storefront carols, but rather as one of quiet — a season of soft-falling snow, a season of anticipation, a season of memories.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 6, 2008
Packaged tight with care
In the old days, Christmas used to come every few months.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 22, 2008
The festival of the long distance runners
Old Man Winter is about to blast his icy breath down our collective necks, but at least we get to ring in the season of sniffles, frostbite and influenza with a great lineup of holidays, highlighted by Christmas and New Year's, and then my personal favorite, Nail-Clipping Day, on Jan. 7.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 25, 2008
The melting pot of 2008
Today's fun fact is that 2008 marks the 100th year since the coining of the term "melting pot" to describe the multiethnic stew that then comprised the American populace. "Then" refers to the years when immigrants flooded over the ocean in a great global warming of the pursuit of opportunity.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 11, 2008
Needled by the sound of noodles
Following are a few sounds people find aggravating and my personal takes on each:
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 27, 2008
Blessings — from the hollow of my head
I suppose the luck of the Irish was with me.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 6, 2008
A dog by any other name
OK, I admit it. For humor's sake, I do on occasion stretch the truth.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 30, 2008
Getting back on the horse
This year's sublime fiasco with the sub-prime mortgage market in the United States had made me wince at the plight of U.S. mortgage holders, even though I am not one of them and I have but a buck ninety-eight invested in American banks.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 16, 2008
Geeks I have known
The meeting itself is not unusual. I have had students seek my consul before — on all kinds of topics.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 2, 2008
Martial and marital arts
"So. . . Do you, like, do karate? Or what?"
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 19, 2008
Go for broke, Japan!
The person shouting this is a close friend — a Japanese English instructor — who with looping earrings, sliding bracelets and multiringed fingers shows more metal than a brass band. She's noisier too, with a big-eyed, rubber-tongued enthusiasm for her work.
Ukraine risks losing all Russian land it seized within months, U.S. says
Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffins of three comrades killed in recent fighting in eastern Ukraine during their funeral in the western city of Lviv on Dec. 20.
Japanese Princess Kako turns 30
As an adult member of the Imperial Family, Princess Kako has performed various official duties at home and abroad this year.
South Korea's worst plane crash in decades leaves 179 dead
Rescue personnel are seen near the tail section of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft after the plane crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, on Sunday.
Shohei Ohtani ends blockbuster year with baby announcement
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, attend a Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 8.
Rejecting the Nippon Steel bid is a slap in the face to Japan
U.S. Steel workers who support the takeover by Nippon Steel rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in September.
Japan’s weather in 2024: Record temperatures hurt people’s health and wallets
People cover themselves with umbrellas during a hot summer day in Tokyo's Ginza district in August. Temperatures shot up in early July, even before the official end of the rainy season, and the high temperatures persisted well into the fall.
How Hokkaido quietly became a culinary treasure trove in 2024
The central Hokkaido city of Asahikawa made headlines this year when one of its suburbs was named as the best place to live in Japan — a ranking earned in part due to the community's many outstanding restaurants and cafes.
Bling-Bang, baby: The J-pop soundtrack of 2024
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' uptempo “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” quickly became a TikTok favorite after its release days into 2024, which helped turn the song into a Billboard Japan Hot 100 topper for 19 weeks before rising up viral streaming charts around the world.
Shohei Ohtani ends blockbuster year with baby announcement
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka, attend a Lakers game in Los Angeles on Dec. 8.
Flu cases surge above ‘warning’ levels in much of Japan
Authorities are calling for utmost vigilance as Japan heads into the New Year holiday season, when many people plan getaways.

Podcast

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Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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Members of the Wajima City Morning Market Association pose for a group photograph on the site where the market once stood.
In the wake of disaster, the revival of Wajima's market brings hope
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