Amy Chavez - The Japan Times

July 16, 2024

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Amy Chavez

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 21, 2009

A guide for femurs visiting Japan

Finally, what you've all been waiting for: a guide for femurs visiting Japan.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 14, 2009

Nature is indeed a creepy thing

Something was fishy. Whenever I heard a knock at the door, no one was there. When my cell phone rang, no one was on the other end. In addition, there was no record of anyone having called.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Nov 7, 2009

Japanese — a language of tall tales

At times, Japan seems to be an alarmist country. Topics like immigration, terrorism, and the latest strain of influenza can be blown out of proportion and reactions can appear over the top. But is it any wonder when you consider the Japanese language?

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 31, 2009

For your amusement — Ferris wheels everywhere, but why not?

Japan can be a confusing place for tourists, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain some things about Japan that no one has ever attempted to explain before, such as "Why are there so many Ferris wheels in Japan?"

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 24, 2009

Concretology — getting lost inside a mammoth structure

Japan is the home of concretology. This form of architecture started in the 1960s as a way to use molds, iron bars and rendering to form structures that make people say, "Whoa!"

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 17, 2009

Japan's gifted children

There are many gifted children in the world, but Japan would have to have the highest number. I'd estimate that nearly 100 percent of Japanese children are gifted. It's not hard to be a gifted child in Japan though.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 10, 2009

Breakfast deja vu — have we met before?

Hot dogs for breakfast anyone? If you order a "Western breakfast" in Japan, you're likely to get breakfast that includes either hot dogs or salad. This is the image of what foreigners eat. No wonder the Japanese think we're strange.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 3, 2009

Welcome to autumn, and the insect world

Welcome to autumn, the spider season. Spiders are everywhere on our island. Should you dare to go hiking or walk the pilgrimage there will be elaborate spider webs, constructed by the best Japanese spider engineers, hanging taut across your every path.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 26, 2009

Maybe it's time for some age-old wisdom

The cover of a Japanese magazine recently showed a photo of Shiraishi Island along with a title that urged people to come and relax in shima no jikan (island time). This, of course, is the image outsiders have of our island.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 19, 2009

What is it that makes things 'Japanese'?

The other day I walked along the road to the far side of the island. Kio-chan, who I hardly recognized without his trademark red Hawaiian shirt and red cap on, could be seen in the distance being walked by his dog. When I approached him, he was huffing and puffing. "Kio-chan," I said, "I didn't know...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 12, 2009

What gomi problem?

There is a growing concern in Japan about gomi yashiki, or trash houses, created by people who hoard useless stuff. Eventually, their collections start overflowing from their houses onto the streets. Such people often have more feline friends than human. I never realized that cats shared this same predilection...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 5, 2009

Flying octopuses of thanks

"Amy-san!" yells one of the neighborhood obaachan while standing in my genkan holding out a plate of warm shrimp tempura. "Thank you so much for helping my husband the other day."

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 29, 2009

Gasoline stations? Pumping gas is really a physical job

Whenever I go to the mainland, I am reminded of how different life is from our small island in the Seto Inland Sea.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 22, 2009

Oscar the Grouch would be homeless here

"That Japanese guy looked at me as if he wanted to kill me," the foreigner said to me while we were standing on the beach.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 15, 2009

Appreciating a sense of space — a Japanese fine art

"Your relax space," "Life style space," space this, space that. What was I saying?

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 8, 2009

How to get lost in Kyoto

A young couple from Norway were talking about their travels in Japan. "We weren't that impressed with Kyoto," they said. "It was too hard to get around."

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 1, 2009

Answers to some slippery fish questions

"Do you eat the green stuff?" asked a tourist, referring to the very end of the snail-like insides of the sazae.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 25, 2009

Welcome to the caldron

"Atsui desu, ne?" (It's hot, isn't it?) This is the universal summer greeting in Japan. You can be in a crowd of complete strangers when someone will sidle up to you and, as an "ice-breaker," say, "It's hot today, isn't it?" And you agree with, "So desu ne." (Yes, it is).

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 18, 2009

Putting the bugs out to sea

Last weekend, we threw all the bad insects off our island in a ceremony called Mushi Okuri (seeing off the insects).

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 11, 2009

The rainy season — it's not just snails on hydrangeas

The rainy season can be kind of gloomy with the lack of sunshine, but the weather may be more a reflection of Japan's economic forecast. The Land of the Rising Sun is in many ways, not so sunny anymore.

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.

The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'

By Tomoko Otake

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Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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