author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access
Amy Chavez

Meta

Twitter

@JapanLite

Amy Chavez
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 26, 2001
Job-hunting tips for the nation's students
Japan's unemployment rate is the highest ever in the postwar era. This is especially bad news for students, who are finding it difficult to find jobs upon graduating. But don't despair, students, deep down the bubble economy is still bubbling! Japan is still paying people to do jobs that don't even exist...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 19, 2001
Satellite radio: a commuter's best friend
Ever wonder how Japanese people can sleep on trains? Ever wonder how they know exactly when to wake up at their stop? I've finally figured it out: They're not really sleeping. They're listening to satellite radio. Satellite-radio stations offer a variety of programs, many of them designed with Japan's...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 12, 2001
Newcomer's guide to interpreting Japlish
English can be seen and heard all over Japan. However, the meaning of the English isn't always obvious. Here is a list of Japanese-English words and phrases explained.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 5, 2001
Just how long will you stay in Japan?
When foreigners come to Japan, we often don't know how long we'll end up staying. Wouldn't it be great if there was some way of knowing? Now there is! Take this quiz, designed to let you know how long you'll stay in Japan.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 28, 2001
Not your average garden-variety squabble
My garden is a mixture of potted house plants, herbs and flowers. I can't help but think that when I'm not home, they squabble. I don't think they're your average garden-variety squabbles, either.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 21, 2001
A time of rapid change and slow speech
Are you, or have you ever been, a member of the Japanese workforce? Like cards, you have been shuffled and dealt out to a different department or location within your company, as if you worked for Trump.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 14, 2001
No more excuses for not knowing your fish
Confused by all the different kinds of fish in Japan? I have learned to recognize fish by studying their facial expressions as they lay on my plate. It also helps to know which fish are served in which seasons.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 7, 2001
One with nature beneath the blossoms
It's the cherry-blossom season, and you know what that means -- we no longer have to look at those silly purple cabbage plants that have grown into conehead spectacles begging to be trodden down by a loose hippo. Yes, Japan's winter pallor will soon be infused with the colors of spring: pink "sakura"...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 31, 2001
The gift from kitty that never stops giving
If you travel enough, there is going to be a day when your cat pees in your suitcase. It's something that only happens if you have gone out of town and left your cat behind so many times that the cat becomes determined to accompany you in the most odorous way. Basically, your cat's message is: I love...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 25, 2001
Few tasks are tougher than being thoughtless
Meditation increases concentration and mindfulness. That's what this book on Zen meditation says. It instructs me to concentrate for 20 minutes on nothing. Absolutely nothing. One strategy to prevent stray thoughts from entering the mind, the book says, is to concentrate on my breathing.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 18, 2001
Where all your nightmares come together
I'm watching breathtaking video footage of a skier hucking air off 30-meter cliff then making smooth carved turns down a deadly 55-degree rock face. The last time I hucked and tucked a 55-degree rock face I woke up just before falling into a crevasse.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 11, 2001
Pint-size English students learning up a storm
Every Thursday at 4 p.m., a big storm comes and whips around my house with enough force to rattle the walls, loosen fixtures and send things crashing onto the floor. The name of the storm is Nami-chan and she's 4 years old.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 4, 2001
A trip to the sports club really wipes you out
I'm wiped out. I've never been to a gym where people spend so much time wiping the machines after they used them. They wipe the mats after they stretch. They even wipe the drinking fountain after drinking -- excruciatingly polite. And if you forget to bring your towel to wipe, they've got wiping mitts...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 25, 2001
Japan studies has explosive effect on U.S. kids
Recently I gave a presentation on Japan to a class of preschoolers in the United States. This month, these 4 and 5-year-olds were studying Japan. Last month they studied Pakistan. They can write their names in Urdu.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 18, 2001
Memories of Fido remain from hair to eternity
I am covered, head to foot, in dog hair. It's as if it had rained cats and dogs and I splashed through a puddle of them.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 11, 2001
You haven't seen Japan till you've been in a bus
The bus is one of the best places for observing Japan. It's different from the train, where people pack in and do "gaman" till they get to their destination.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 4, 2001
Life is too short, even when you have nine!
I used to think I knew how to bury a dead cat. Then I learned the Japanese way.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 28, 2001
In what other country can you ski in a zoo?
When we finally arrived at the ski area after three hours of driving, I realized I had not packed my ski jacket. I had packed my winter sailing jacket instead.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 21, 2001
Almost like a mouthful of Momma's tasty tofu
If you're a foreigner in Japan, Japanese people will always ask you, "Why are you in Japan?" If you're a foreigner who has been in Japan a awhile, Japanese people will always ask you, "Why are you still in Japan?"
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 14, 2001
Danger! Americans may smother you in kindness
I always get a kick out my students when they come back from the United States and exclaim, "Wow! Americans are so friendly!" Of course, what they really mean is, "Wow! No one even tried to kill us!"
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono
The celebrated artist ‘updating’ the kimono

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER