Jean Pearce - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Nov 17, 1999

From time to time I have been asked to remind people that although Japan is a very safe country, there are times when it is not. The yearend has always been a time when people should be especially careful. In old Japan, all debts had to be paid by the end of the year, but even a cursory perusal of today's...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Nov 10, 1999

Pre-holiday planning

It seems a bit early to be writing about Christmas, but there is a lot of planning to do if you must ship things home, or even pack them to take with you. That's why the Tokyo charity-oriented International Ladies Benevolent Society now schedules its ILBS Christmas Fair even before we have ordered the...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Nov 7, 1999

Our troubled world

Only 55 more days to go until the end of this century. It has been a troubled one, yet one filled with new discoveries and hope. More people have been assured of at least the basics of comfort in life while large numbers have been left in devastating poverty. Perhaps it will be remembered as a century...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Nov 3, 1999

For better or worse

November? Already? How different it is for little kids who think there is a generation between one Christmas and another. November is a stepping stone to the yearend holiday celebration, which this year will have both special meaning and reasons for concern. Regardless of assurances, people wonder what...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Oct 31, 1999

When there's a need

What is KEEP? a reader asks. Friends in the United States want to know about its activities before making a donation.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Oct 27, 1999

What's going on

Last summer I wrote about Tokyo's upcoming wine event, the prestigious Japan International Wine Challenge, a competition that brings together the world's leading sommeliers, producers, importers and experts, giving devotees a chance to meet leaders in the world of wine and to taste some of the world's...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Oct 24, 1999

Never-ending need

There could have been no better selection for the Nobel Peace Prize than Doctors Without Borders with its volunteers who ignore hardships and dangers and go to the world's most troubled places. Doctors Without Borders is a symbol, standing for many other organizations, groups and individuals who give...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Oct 20, 1999

A bit perturbed

This morning I had a phone call. I'm busy, he said, I just have a few minutes between meetings but I desperately need your help. Well, I was busy too, but I listened. His wife taught at a university, he said. School officials had been wanting her to resign. She is 58 years old. She had, he said, been...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Oct 10, 1999

Loyalty

A gentleman writes with great affection about his hairbrush. It is, he says, a very nice, heavy hairbrush with a teak back and it is in need of new boar bristles, not surprising since he has used it for 20 years. He hopes to find a shop that can do this kind of work, but where?

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Oct 6, 1999

International outlook

There are a lot of people who would like to get out and see Japan, but often it seems the cost outweigh the experience. Now U.S. citizens can avoid this dilemma, thanks to a wide-ranging exchange program based on one of the first Japan-American cultural exchange projects. It dates back to 1841 when Nakahama...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Sep 22, 1999

Qualified clarification

Today's column attempts to clarify some common questions about Japanese health insurance. First it is necessary to understand the differences between the two types. Shakai Hoken (SH), or Employees Health Insurance, covers employees/dependents of companies that subscribe to some health insurance plan....

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Sep 19, 1999

Encounters

Recently I had a minor automobile accident. How often have you seen drivers discussing their accident with the police and felt great sympathy for the participants, who were obviously going to be there for a very long time. This time one of the participants was me, and I was, even though the damage was...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Sep 15, 1999

Opportunities

Today is Respect for the Aged Day. Once Japan was criticized for not having enough holidays. Now, with New Year's for winter celebrants, O-bon in the summer, Golden Week in the spring and an assortment of traditional and recently created special days in between (with Mondays off if they fall on Sunday),...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Sep 12, 1999

Praiseworthy

My earliest memories of Honolulu include my introduction to Japanese food; it had not yet become a cuisine. It was at a tiny Waikiki restaurant where each day a cook created four or five special lunches on two gas burners. One was for sauteing and frying, the other for simmering, steaming and warming....

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Sep 5, 1999

Late returns

A reader remembers a column about Gen. Douglas MacArthur's office in the Dai-Ichi Insurance building. It was ideally situated for the role he was to play -- it overlooked the Imperial Palace. He established his own imperial pre-eminence when the Chinese carpet he always used in his office was delivered:...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Sep 1, 1999

Defying changes

Volunteer organizations come and go, often depending on who runs them. Many times a group will cease to exist when the person who held it together leaves Japan. Fortunately, there are still many people who give their time to volunteer organizations. Their number, however, has decreased as more professional...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Aug 18, 1999

Another farewell

It was a sad Monday last week when I saw the name Andre Lecomte in the obituary column. He was invited to come to Japan in the '60s to be the head pastry chef at the Okura Hotel. Before Andre, the taste of bread and pastry available for those with a Western preference was always somewhat askew. After...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Aug 15, 1999

Entrapments

It is essential to have a file of fillers to turn to in times of need, like when I suddenly decide to take a trip, this one to Honolulu to stay in a friend's apartment while she is away and need to have seven completed columns before departure (tomorrow). This is the last one. It starts with a repeat...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Aug 11, 1999

Like it is

Language is enriched by people who don't speak it very well, using phrases made up of words that contain the meaning of what they want to say but not the usual form. The result is sometimes quite effective. How about this one reporting a break in the summer heat: The weather is going down a bit, or this:...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE

Aug 9, 1999

A learning experience

It is interesting to follow the drinking culture of Japan. In times when "Japaneseness" is being emphasized, sales of "Nihon-shu" (sake) and "shochu" (an indigenous distilled beverage that uses a variety of things that will ferment but mainly sweet potatoes) tend to increase. Beer is seldom affected...

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