Amy Chavez - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 28, 2006

Autumn on Shiraishi island -- the tourists are gone and weekends are for cycling, sailing and holding impromptu beer parties.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 21, 2006

Oh deer, what can the matter be?

Ah, Miyajima! One of the most photographed spots in Japan. That fantastic torii gate in the sea, the vermilion Utsukushima Shrine, magnificent Mount Misen, those damn deer!

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 14, 2006

English language disaster in the making

"Hello!" said a smiling boy next to me on the train. "Well, hello," I said, startled that anyone should actually use this phrase unaccompanied by at least a giggle and at most rolling on the floor laughing.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Oct 7, 2006

Tell me, just whose festival is it, anyhow?

October is a great month for festivals in Japan and our island is no exception. The Shiraishi Aki Matsuri is my favorite event of the year. It's a time when you meet your neighbors at 8 a.m. and start toasting to the Shinto gods. The matsuri men come out and pull the mikoshi and all-day merriment follows....

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 30, 2006

Stayin' alive in health check 'stamprary'

I was recently asked to get a health check by one of my places of employment. On my planet, the United States, one doctor does the health check in 30 minutes. How boring.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 23, 2006

Sports festivals: menace to health?

It's autumn in Japan, and you know what that means -- sports festivals! Oct. 10 is Sports Day, a national holiday started in 1964 to mark the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, autumn has been a time of year for schools and communities to hold annual sports festivals.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 16, 2006

Commode confession of Sound Princess

All the talk of royalty these days has got me to thinking -- has anyone else ever wondered why so many royal words are associated with toilets? Think about it. You sit on the throne. If you're a woman in a public bathroom in Japan, you probably use the Oto Hime (Sound Princess) to cover up the sounds...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 9, 2006

The Japanese Chrysanthemum Thrown

Congratulations to Princess Kiko and Prince Akishino on the birth of their baby! While the fact that it is a boy is even greater news for the royal family, it's a shame for Japan. Looking for excuses not to face modern realities, Japan may now wallow in its past of allowing only male heirs of male lineage...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 2, 2006

In earthquakes, avoid bending machines

I was recently asked to edit an emergency evacuation manual for Kasaoka City Hall. "Don't worry," they told me, "we've already translated it into English. All you have to do is edit it." Right.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 26, 2006

'Sagi' -- a major interruption of 'wa'

"I was so surprised!" said the policeman, sipping on a Mooey Blue Hawiian at the Moooo! Bar. He's on duty. "I've never been called on my cell phone before for an emergency."

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 19, 2006

Bon stories: fire heads and stuffed turtles

"Ne, ne, Amy-chan . . ." Kio-chan is calling to me from across the Moooo! Bar. "Man-chan wa ne . . ." he starts to tell me a story about his best friend, 80-year-old Man-chan, who is sitting next to him. The only thing he likes more than Man-chan is telling stories about him. "You should see Man-chan's...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 12, 2006

Bon -- the spirit of ancestor worship

The Bon holiday is here, when everyone returns to their hometown to visit family and pay homage to their ancestors. It's a built-in way of forcing your grown children to come back to visit you, even if you're dead.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 5, 2006

Paving over the Kyoto Protocol realities

The Kyoto Protocol aimed to slow down global warming, but I have a better way of dealing with global warming in Japan. It requires each person to walk outside of their house with a jackhammer and remove a 1-meter slab of concrete.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 29, 2006

The secret to stomping the rainy season

It has been a long rainy season, with destruction from landslides and floods. But we don't worry about those things on the island. Because living on an island, we're used to having lots of water around. Thirty cm of rain here is just another drop of water in the sea.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 22, 2006

All aboard! -- Jump on the super express train to English

The other day, a Japanese man came up to me in Starbucks and said, "Could you help me with this word?"

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 15, 2006

Zidane -- a bit of the old cow

Many people have been left perplexed by the performance of French soccer player Zinedine Zidane in the 110th minute of the World Cup final. Provoked by Italian Marco Materazzi, Zidane turned around and head butted the Italian so hard, he knocked him down.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 8, 2006

On the train, the English teacher is 'out'

I often hear foreigners complain that Japanese people will not sit next to them on the train. The perception is that this is some form of discrimination, or perhaps more simply, that we just plain smell bad. Or maybe foreigners feel this is a form of ostracizing, leaving them feel all alone.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 1, 2006

Fighting against Japan's colonial powers

It's just after dark and you hear a rumble coming from above. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a North Korean missile! Well, close. You see a large black cloud in the distance and it seems to be moving your way. It IS moving your way -- and it's aimed right at you! Anyone who has lived through a rainy...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jun 24, 2006

Geta fliers and Bo(y) Derek on a jet ski

The Moooo! Bar season has started on Shiraishi Island and I have to admit that I am a little disappointed. Now into our third season, not one cow has come to the Moooo! Bar, even though I advertise that cows drink for free.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jun 17, 2006

World Cup spirit runneth over

Zzzzzzzzzz. Eh? Oh, it's Saturday morning? Time for Japan Lite? Sorry for the drowsiness, but if you've been watching the World Cup soccer on TV, you'll understand. All the games are on at night here. I usually go to sleep after the 10 p.m. game and wake up for the 4 a.m. game.

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