Amy Chavez - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 13, 2003

The front door to your house is where chi enters the home. So spruce up your front door with decorations to make it more inviting and to attract only good chi inside.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Sep 6, 2003

Drawing the line at the gentle bovine

Did you know that there's a dairy farm in Tokyo? Forty bovine residents live in Nerima Ward, where the city grew up around the Koizumi Bokujo diary farm. I myself, would be honored to have mooing neighbors. Especially as opposed to arguing spouses, screaming children and washing machines that start at...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 30, 2003

'Hari': acupuncture or body piercing?

I had already tried massage, but my back and shoulders were still hurting from a pinched nerve. So, I tried "hari." Hari is acupuncture. "Hari," also the Japanese word for needle, but with a different kanji, is almost always written in hiragana, perhaps to make it seem less threatening. I had spotted...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 23, 2003

Is Japan changing? Utterly, and not a bit

Japan is changing. Or is it? The young Japanese people are changing while the old Japanese are holding on to their traditions. Whether you witness the changes in Japan, and to what degree, largely depends on where you are.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 16, 2003

Friends, the biggest of Japanese ships

This summer I opened an "omiyage" shop on our local beach in an attempt to help promote Shiraishi Island.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 9, 2003

Bon preparation: something must die

Bon is when the spirits of the dead come back to their ancestral homes to visit. When I moved into my house, the grandfather's "ihai" (ancestral tablet) was still in the Butsudan (family shrine) and stayed there for years. I always enjoyed leaving sake, fruit and other offerings out for his return at...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Aug 2, 2003

A day at the beach -- Japanese style!

Today, we're going on a trip. Are you ready? OK, here's a list of things we'll need: a large vinyl ground sheet, portable picnic tables, a tent, boxed lunches, a cooler for the beer and a thermos for the cold tea. Have you guessed where we're going yet? No, not camping. A few more hints. We'll also need...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 26, 2003

Japanese English: crime and punishment

Recently, I received some letters from readers criticizing me for making fun of Japanese English. These people said that this kind of humor has been "played to death" and, moreover, that Japanese English is "not interesting." Ha!

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 19, 2003

Cosmo fashion takes over the classroom

Some of the biggest changes in Japan over the years have taken place in the world of academia. Over 10 years, for example, my university classroom has changed from reserved, plain-dressed girls who used to hide behind their bangs to a group of miniskirted, sexy, breasty teens who wiggle and jiggle their...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 12, 2003

Business Japanese using Braille method

I have learned business Japanese through trial and error, which is very similar to the Braille method of learning to parallel park your car.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jul 5, 2003

'Uchiawase' meeting reveals mooing OL

"Japanese is a vague language." I often hear Japanese people say this, but I've never heard a foreigner say it. To me, what the Japanese mean by their language being "vague" is that the reality is often very different from what you are told. On my planet, the United States, we call this lying. But in...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jun 28, 2003

Doing business: the 'uchiawase' vortex

It has never been easier to start a business in Japan. These days, anyone can register a business with zero money and an "inkan" stamp. Indeed, this is what attracted me. I thought: Hey I have no money -- I'll start a business!

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jun 21, 2003

The rainy season and umbrella politics

It always surprises me that with year after year of rainy seasons, the Japanese aren't better prepared for it. They slog through the rain and puddles with just umbrellas and arrive at work harried in soaked pants legs and waterlogged shoes. No one bothers to wear rain boots or galoshes. Umbrellas, and...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jun 14, 2003

Zen rock gardens: just rake and groove

Have you planted your garden yet? What garden? The container garden I taught you how to plant in a previous column. What -- you haven't even started it yet? I know, you're busy. You don't have time to water your plants and you absolutely hate weeding.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jun 7, 2003

If you love someone, give a slime stocker

The instructions were clear: Choose anything from the catalog, fill out the form, and it will be delivered to you for free. Anything from kitchen appliances to pearl necklaces. This was my landlord's way of thanking me for letting him stay in his own house for a weekend. He had already given me plenty...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 31, 2003

Flower power and the heathen gardener

It's time to water your garden. What garden? You mean you haven't planted your garden yet? Oh, you're too busy? Don't have enough space? No more excuses. I'll tell you how you can make a Japanese-style flower garden in just 30 seconds a day. Heck, you learned Japanese in 10 minutes a day, right?

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 24, 2003

The 49th day -- tradition and cat hair

Four rolls of toilet paper, one bag of fried shrimp snacks, "manju," bourbon biscuits, two pieces of "milk candy" and some liquid soap. That's what I got on the 49th day of my landlord's death.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 17, 2003

Defensive perfume: to use, just fling it

It was a bad Japan day. After a full day of teaching into the evening, the train was too crowded to find a seat on the way home, and just as I was taking up the old Japanese horse tradition (sleeping while standing), a drunk "salaryman" sidled up and accosted me with bad English for an entire 30 minutes....

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 10, 2003

Japan's most honorable form of death

"Well, you don't have a fever," the doctor told me. Next, he looked down my throat.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 3, 2003

Shinkansen: shared stink, flying fruit

This is a followup to an article I wrote a few weeks ago on how to ride the shinkansen. As many readers pointed out, I overlooked some very important aspects.

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