Amy Chavez - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Apr 3, 2010

Bringing up negative children positively

Japan's national birthrate in 2008 was 1.37 children per woman, (sorry, no figures available for men). If this is true, then our island's birthrate must be minus 1.37 per woman. At most.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 27, 2010

Spring arrives with big black belching fires

As it gets warmer on Shiraishi Island, the old ladies sit out on their porches to warm themselves in the sun. There is renewed activity on the port as 83-year-old Man-chan scurries around his party tent, taking down Christmas lights and decorations.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 20, 2010

American gomi yashiki

I was recently asked by a Japanese person if we have gomi yashiki (trash houses) in the United States. In Japan, such houses refer to those whose inhabitants hoard things to the point that their stuff is overflowing onto the streets, sometimes impeding traffic.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 13, 2010

The secrets behind Japanese beauty

I now realize why the Japanese often don't smile for photos: They're hiding their wrinkles. And it works. I've even figured out that if I went around never smiling, I'd look 10 years younger. Unfortunately I can't, so I'll have to continue to look like the happy old hag that I am.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 6, 2010

The art of peripheral heating

In my Japanese house in the countryside, I don't have central heating. Just peripheral heating. In an era where just a simple word like "change" can get a president elected, I suggest that the next person running for prime minister in Japan use the slogan "central heat!"

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 27, 2010

The mysteries of counting islands

Today I'd like to uncover some of the mysteries of the Seto Inland Sea. The Inland Sea, or Seto Naikai, is a 450 km-long sea with 700 to 3,000 islands, or sometimes 2,000 islands, depending on who you talk to. Why such a discrepancy? Island counting is a special skill and the way you count them depends...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 20, 2010

Yes, we ski in Japan, and, yes, we ski well

When I go back to the U.S. and talk about skiing in Japan, people ask, "They ski in Japan?" I'm like, "Remember the 1998 Olympics in Nagano?" "Oh yeah," they say, wrinkling their foreheads as if recalling some 8 mm black-and-white ski movie while exhibiting enough doubt that I know they're going to look...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 13, 2010

Shopping — a bitty of the kitty in all of us

One of the most popular hobbies in Japan is shopping. Shopping as a hobby? Although shopping includes "window shopping" (you don't apparently have to buy anything to be "shopping"), there is a large contingent of those who purchase such "material" things for themselves.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 6, 2010

The ABCs of living in Japan

"A is for apple." Every Japanese person learns this when they learn the E nglish alphabet. But couldn't it be, just for once, "A is for antelope?" Or how about "A is for anarchy," "adult" or "aspirin?" Wouldn't that be more helpful? We could also use our own alphabet to teach Japanese culture and language...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 30, 2010

How to ship a bison omiyage

I have a confession: I've always wanted to be a bison.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 23, 2010

Tips on how Japan can solve its aging problems

By 2015, it is said that one in four Japanese citizens will be 65 or older. Many worry that these elderly people will burden the health and pension system. There just aren't enough young people to prop up the old.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 16, 2010

How about a gaijin circus in gazelle land?

The other day, my husband bought a shirt at Uniqlo. "Wow, the sleeves are long enough!" he marveled. Clothes in Japan are getting bigger and even now foreigners can almost wear them. But there was still a problem. The arms of the shirt were too tight. This confirms a suspicion I have long had about the...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 9, 2010

You know you've been in Japan way too long when . . .

We've all heard the "You know you've been in Japan too long when . . ." jokes followed by a list of tired expressions, such as "when you start bowing while you're on the phone." Ha-ha-ha. It was probably funny the first 100 times you heard it but can't someone come up with something new?!

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 26, 2009

Be wild in the Year of the Tigress

The Year of the Tiger won't be as black and white as 2009, the Year of the Cow. But with the Tiger leading, it may be a year that promises more golf, sex and misadventure, which you have to admit, is something.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 26, 2009

Be wild in the Year of the Tigress

The Year of the Tiger won't be as black and white as 2009, the Year of the Cow. But with the Tiger leading, it may be a year that promises more golf, sex and misadventure, which you have to admit, is something.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 19, 2009

Five rules of the aisle seat when you fly

Today I thought I would share with you my Frequent Flier Anti-Jet Lag formula. And it doesn't involve swallowing frequent flier miles to regain world time zones internally. My technique is simple: drink a few beers and sleep on the airplane for about six hours.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 12, 2009

Is service with a smile too much to ask for?

As we near Christmas, many foreigners will be going home to spend the holiday with their families. This means enduring long flights and, unfortunately for many, rude flight attendants.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 5, 2009

I'm a gaijin — just another guy in jeans

An editor once asked why I use the masculine pronoun "he," instead of the less sexist "he or she" when referring to people of both genders in the same sentence. Despite having grown up in what is now called the second wave of feminism, from the early '60s to late '80s, I still never quite made the change...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 5, 2009

I'm a gaijin — just another guy in jeans

An editor once asked why I use the masculine pronoun "he," instead of the less sexist "he or she" when referring to people of both genders in the same sentence. Despite having grown up in what is now called the second wave of feminism, from the early '60s to late '80s, I still never quite made the change...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 28, 2009

The problem of loanwords in Japan, and returning them

Most people agree that the borrowing of English words into the Japanese language has gone too far. The Japanese complain that they can't understand the constant barrage of new katakana words that enter the lexicon, and foreigners complain they can't understand the "English" meanings once they've been...

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