Jean Pearce - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / How-tos

Aug 27, 2000

WASHINGTON -- As a born-again nonsmoker (when I was three a great aunt tied a white ribbon around my wrist signifying a commitment never to smoke, a promise on my behalf that for years I chose not to honor), it is a joy to be in a country where smoking is all but prohibited. Here there are neither smoking...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jul 12, 2000

With love, Jean

When I first arrived in Japan more than 40 years ago, one of the first words I learned was sayonara and that it meant "goodbye." As I stayed on, I began to learn that sayonara did not mean goodbye in the sense of "till we meet again" or "God watch over you" as such phrases are used in the West. The literal...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jul 9, 2000

Take a chance

Here is a quick summary of some of the activities that are available as you look for ways to fill what should be, but rarely are, the less demanding summer months.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jul 5, 2000

Sometimes too late

Several readers have asked me to repeat my favorite column. That is quite difficult. Actually, there would be two but neither was ever written. There are many questions that are never selected to be in a column.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jul 2, 2000

Remembrance

"Sensei." Along with "sayonara," that is one of the first words most of us learn when we come to Japan. Though the image has been somewhat tarnished in these recent years of school disorders and juvenile delinquency, traditionally the word sensei, or teacher, has been one of the most honorific terms...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 28, 2000

Online education

A high school graduate who wants to wait a year before going home for her university education was invited to attend the University of Maryland University College graduation in April. There she heard reference to a program that provides online courses at a global university. She wonders if she could...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 25, 2000

Again and again

A part of this is from a column written in 1993 about "ijime" (bullying). It was not the first, and today I can't even recall that specific case. There have been so many. At the time I objected to the newspaper comment that ijime had been a serious problem for a decade. Brutal discrimination against...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 21, 2000

Forgetfulness

Does it happen to you? You are looking for something which you can't find, but what you do find are all sorts of things you have looked for previously but have not been able to locate. One "something" I found was about indiscreet remarks by politicians, many of whom are still making similar indiscreet...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 18, 2000

Never too long

I have perhaps the world's longest list of You have been here too long if. . . It is often easy to see oneself in such lists, recognizing a trait you have absorbed since living here. It has become an automatic reflex, unnoticed until you return home and realize that no one else does it. My moment of...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 14, 2000

Winding down

In Sunday's column, I told readers why I will be leaving Japan while, appropriately, explaining what is required for foreigners to get married in Japan, which is what we did. I also said I would explain what would replace this column. Actually, I can't do that. It is up to you. I know there are a lot...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 11, 2000

How to say goodbye

I have over the years researched readers' questions diligently, but never have I been quite as well prepared as for this column, on how to get married in Japan. I would like to tell you why. On May 25, William Sherman and I proceeded through the process as outlined below. Bill has had three postings...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 7, 2000

A beginning

A recent column question dealt with a problem that faces many parents today: Their children have completely lost interest in school. These are often bright, motivated students who are dissatisfied with the system. Foreigners tend to feel that Japanese kids are too occupied, that something is planned...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Jun 4, 2000

Songs to be sung

Some of the world's most beautiful poems were sung in Japan well before the introduction of writing to record them. The writing came from China some 1,200 years ago, the songs are an even older oral tradition that was not recorded in words and preserved until the 8th century. The poems demonstrate the...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 31, 2000

Musical festivals

It's time again for the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto. The first was held nine years ago when many outstanding Japanese musicians gathered together, as they have every year since, to honor their teacher, Hideo Saito, with a combined musical performance.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 28, 2000

Only yesterday

Sometimes this column is credited with far more than it can do. It cannot turn back the calendar to long gone days and bring back the past, except to present it in the form that whatever-it-was has now assumed. Take, for example, traditional Japanese architecture, the lovely old houses we once could...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 24, 2000

Contrasts everywhere

We all know generalizations are dangerous, we shouldn't make them, but we do, especially when there is considerable evidence to support them. Japanese conformity is an example, though we must acknowledge that there is much to suggest a contrasting, imaginative individuality. For example, five perfectly...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 21, 2000

Dreams come true

Today I am happy to tell you about one of this column's most successful accomplishments. It began last October when I received a heartfelt letter from Chip Bozek, a teacher in Hokkaido. He wanted to find someone who could give him a "chonmage" haircut like the old-time samurai wore. He had asked his...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 17, 2000

Street entertainment

Honoring Golden Week, Omotesando lined its streetside with wondrous bamboo sculptures. I recognized the deft hand of flower master Hiroshi Teshigahara; he had once filled his Sogetsu headquarters building with similar fanciful forms, a display that visitors could walk among, and those of us who did will...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 14, 2000

Adjusting traditions

Before we get too far from the holidays, I wonder how many of you were aware of yet another dilemma for Japanese trying to follow traditions in a world where they no longer fit. Among the most spectacular sights of Golden Week that we are suppose to see are the carp streamers hoisted on long poles and...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

May 10, 2000

We all have problems

A foreign man, engaged to be married to a Japanese woman, has a problem. They have decided they want to buy a mansion (apartment) rather than pay rent for someone else's property. He has heard that foreigners wishing to buy property or arrange a mortgage are required to have permanent residence status,...

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