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July 16, 2024
 

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JAPAN LITE

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 20, 2008
Mail from the countryside
I went to the post office today and was third in line. This is very unusual on our island of just 687 people. I've never seen more than two people in the post office at any time. Then it hit me: It's Daikon December. December is when the daikon radishes are harvested.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 13, 2008
A frosty reception
It's getting cold , a bit frosty, you might say. But I'm used to having frost on the windows of my house, even in the summer time. This is due to an amazing phenomenon in Japan called frosted glass.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 6, 2008
Sending out smoke signals to the gods
While November is fire prevention month in Japan, on our island we are out deliberately starting fires. And during this dry time of year with crispy leaves and fallen twigs, the likelihood of setting the entire island on fire is at its highest. But fire is one of the many ways the island people communicate...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 29, 2008
Festival takes cryptic turn
I was walking home when I saw, up in the distance, four Buddhist priests dressed in purple and gold robes. "Hey, Amy!" they called to me. "We hope you don't mind that we tied our boat up next to yours in front of your house," one said, pointing to their 30-foot (9-meter) motorboat tied to the dock. No...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 22, 2008
Barely squeezing by in Japan
I walked into a restaurant to get a quick bite for lunch. After I squeezed myself through the narrow door, I noticed the restaurant's first floor was completely full. "Packed" would be a more appropriate word: All four seats were taken.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 15, 2008
Autumn is for 'metabolic syndrome'
In the face of the increasing problem of "metabolic syndrome," in Japan, they really ought to revise the phrase shokuyoku no aki (Autumn is for eating). Another popular axiom is, dokusho no aki (Autumn is for reading) so if you put these two messages together, one can only conclude: Eat, and when you...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 8, 2008
What's all the shouting about?
I boarded the shinkansen the other day and couldn't believe what I saw: everything! Yes, things I never used to see in the shinkansen are now extremely visible, in your face, in big, bold letters making it very hard to avoid reading them. The aisle and seat numbers were all in much larger fonts. Even...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 1, 2008
The secret of living to 200
It takes a special kind of person to live on a small island of 688 people — a crazy person. And it takes a special island to put up with 688 crazy people.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 25, 2008
Mourning lost Japan
I recently visited Osakishimo Island off Hiroshima Prefecture in the Seto Inland Sea. Since the Jomon Period, this island has only been accessible by boat.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 18, 2008
Taming lions with laughter
"I'll be OK," I reassured myself before walking into the lion cage. Textbook secured under one arm, I walked in with confidence and closed the door behind me. The door made that definitive "click." Just 50 minutes, I told myself. Fifty minutes of screaming commands at the top of my lungs, 50 minutes...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 11, 2008
English for one's health
A friend recently asked me to teach some English classes for her while she took a semester off to have a baby. Of course, I was happy to help out.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 4, 2008
Life — it's all in the books
Sometimes it seems I live holiday to holiday. Having just finished Respect for the Aged Day, and the Autumn Equinox (both national holidays) I am now looking forward to Sports Day in October. The problem with national holidays in Japan, however, is that they are rarely a chance to relax. Instead, they...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 27, 2008
Tell me 'taint so!
Dear Prime Minister Aso,
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 20, 2008
Coordinating human life
While I was in the city the other day, I saw a sign on a building that described a certain company, in English, as "human life coordinator." I suppose life is something like a pant suit — you've just got to coordinate it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 13, 2008
Learning how to duck
For a long time I had noticed a strange absence of wild birds in the back of my house. The front of the house, facing the port, has plenty of seagulls, blue herons, and wild ducks. In the morning I wake up to quacking, cawing and arguing herons.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 6, 2008
Land of the Great Pumpkin
The last time I went to Naoshima was in June of 2001, when it was just an island with a museum, a hotel and some tents. It was called Bunkamura (culture village). The museum was Mr. Fukutake's own private art collection of mostly modern art. In 2004 came Claude, Walter and James (Monet, De Maria, and...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 30, 2008
The Awashima crab murders
Matsumoto-san bellied up to my bar and said, "Amy, I've started Moooo! Bar II on the beach at Awashima Island. You must come see it!" I wasn't really sure what to think about this, not having planned on expanding anything except my beer belly by owning a bar. This being Asia, however, it is supposed...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 23, 2008
Reaping summer's rewards
In July, a package arrived on my genkan doorstep like all packages arrive at my house — with a thud. I could hear the postman grunt out a greeting before he shut the screen door behind him. I went downstairs to investigate the thud.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 16, 2008
Get back to where you once belonged
The countryside in Japan has a reputation for being backwards. This is partly true. In the countryside where I live we walk backwards, we drive backwards and sometimes we even do our laundry backwards — by drying it out first, then washing it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 9, 2008
Putting Cool Biz to the test
Here we are in the middle of Kuuru Bizu. Cool what? you say. There is nothing cool about the hot and humid summer in Japan. Perhaps they meant "cool busy" as in busy trying to find someplace cool to hang out.
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

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

Longform

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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