Amy Chavez - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 7, 2002

It's the holiday season and on my planet, the United States, that means people are preoccupied with how to stay slim during this season of indulgence. Magazines typically feature articles on how to burn calories by doing ordinary things -- such as walking to the mailbox instead of driving, or by choosing...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 30, 2002

Roaches with secret technology win war

I came home the other day and noticed someone had been eating my porridge. "Someone's been eating mine too," said my husband. "And there he is!" I got my shotgun and pointed it at the roach. Bam! He's gone now.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 23, 2002

How to coax warmth out of Japanese food

In Japan, since there is no central heating, there is a sincere attempt to warm the body from the stomach out. And since this is Asia, where the stomach is considered the body's Command Central, it bodes well to keep your stomach happy, and above all, warm.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 16, 2002

'Oba-chan' mutiny brings funeral chaos

There was so much activity on Shiraishi Island, it was almost seismic. Elderly women grouped outside their houses whispering. The Buddhist priest was so busy, he wasn't answering his cell phone. Ferries kept bringing more people dressed in black.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 9, 2002

Hunching to keep from dying of cold poisoning

If I could bring one thing from my home country to Japan, it would be a fireplace. Of course, the hearth wouldn't make it through the security check these days. But still, to have an open fire blazing in the living room would be nice, not to mention warm.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 2, 2002

Cute, single, self-made millionaire girls

Japan wonders why the birth rate has plummeted. There are theories ranging from the fact that women aren't given painkillers during birth to the fact that women are waiting longer to get married. But the real reason women are not having babies is much simpler: This generation has grown up with Hello...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 26, 2002

Getting clubbed to keep up with the Satos

I have often thought I should "level up" my "life communication space" by joining one of the various clubs in my community, such as the pottery club or stained glass-making club. Although I would like to interact with my island community more, I hesitate because of the commitment. In Japan, people pursue...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 19, 2002

Kenka Matsuri: death and hairy butts

Butts! Hairy butts! That's all I could think of among the chaos of men in loincloths rushing around Shirahama in Himeji last weekend. I was there for the Kenka Matsuri, or Fighting Festival, at Matsubara Hachiman Shrine. The official name is the Nada Fighting Festival, perhaps because that is what the...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 12, 2002

Personal fences and Hello Kitty killer

In the spirit of "benri de ii" (convenient and good) I would like to propose some ideas for making Japan a more convenient country.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 5, 2002

Rules of the 'genkan': First, wear shoes

There is a peculiar space in Japanese houses called the "genkan." Although "genkan" sounds like a Japanese English abbreviation for Genghis Kahn, the genkan has little to do with conquering and more to do with barriers. The genkan is the welcome pit just inside the front door that serves as a gathering...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 28, 2002

Drugstores spread queasy headaches

I'm afraid to go to the doctor in Japan. If I did, he might bring up the bread crusts. You know, those mammoth slices of bread in Japan with crusts that take forever to chew all the way through? If the doctor looked down my throat, he might see into my stomach and say, "Look at all those bread crusts...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 21, 2002

Far-out news headlines from the Far East

Sometimes I yearn for lies. Like sensational news items that everybody knows aren't true:

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 14, 2002

Rip Van Twinkle: awake for 100 years

You all know the story of Rip Van Winkle, who slept for 20 years. But how many of you know the story of Rip Van Twinkle, who stayed awake for 100 years?

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 7, 2002

Mute appreciation by home stay girls

We went to Paris for a couple of hours, ate brunch in Venice, then did some shopping in Luxor. When I looked at my watch, I realized we were going to have to walk fast to make it back to New York on time to check out of our hotel. It wasn't as far as you'd think, though: all of this was on the strip...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 31, 2002

Fear and loathing in XXL Las Vegas

The combination of classic American kitsch and the Japanese love for it makes Las Vegas a mandatory stop on any Japanese person's tour of the U.S. This is how I find myself in Las Vegas now with two Japanese home stay students.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 24, 2002

Taking kids on a Disneyland home stay

If you stay in Japan long enough, there will come a time, equal to that of the Super Lotto, called "ongaeshi," when you have to pay back people who have helped you along your rocky limestone road to a comfortable life in Japan. I'm pretty sure that's why Japanese people always ask how long you have been...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 17, 2002

Personal grooming goes grossly public

Of all the changes we have seen in Japan over the past 10 years, one really stands out: personal grooming. It used to be that people did their personal grooming privately, behind closed doors. But nowadays, the Japanese people have gone public. Sometimes there are so many women on the train applying...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 10, 2002

All about God, the gold sweat shirt guy

When I was a child, I believed God was a bald guy in a gold cotton sweat shirt with the letter "G," for God, on it. I still believe this. Only now, his sweat shirt is 50 percent polyester and 50 percent cotton, preshrunk. The gold color has faded and the "G" is wearing off , peeling in little specks...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 3, 2002

I'm a carefree street food vendor, baby!

You know what I like about Japan? The mobile food. And I'm not talking about going to the drive-through at McDonald's for takeout. Albeit a dying tradition, in Japan you can still get some food such as noodles, octopus balls and "yaki imo" from street vendors who cruise the neighborhoods. If you have...

COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST

Aug 1, 2002

Isles trampled in white elephant stampede

Japan's islands have long been a source of tearful TV documentaries that focus on aging populations and families abandoned by children who have left for the cities.

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