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July 16, 2024
 

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JAPAN LITE

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 18, 2005
From bad to worse -- drifting out to sea with no sail or signal
"She's rolled," said the skipper. "In a few seconds, she'll right herself." With the cabin now under water, it was dark but I could still see the skipper and Paul sitting on the ceiling. Ten seconds passed, and the boat slowly rolled back upright, heaving provisions -- cans of food, heads of cabbage,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 11, 2005
June, a month of maritime disaster
June 7 welcomed the return of two Japanese sailors who circumnavigated the globe nonstop: Kenichi Horie and Minoru Saito. I have a special admiration for these men because June also marks the first anniversary of my rescue from the sea while attempting to cross the Pacific in a yacht to Australia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 4, 2005
Spiritual journeys to the Inland Sea
I was sitting having a drink with an American girl in San-chan's Bar. I had just met her, a young doctor who had come directly from Osaka's Kansai airport to Shiraishi Island. She was staying five days on the island and when she left, she would go directly back to Kansai airport.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 28, 2005
Learn Japanese through the Conditioned Response Method
After the success of my first published book, "Guidebook to Japan: What the other guidebooks won't tell you," I am now ready to start my second book, "Learning Japanese: What the textbooks won't tell you." Allow me to share with you the Conditioned Response Method (CRM). With this method, you will be...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 21, 2005
Horton hears a Who in 'Dare-mura'
I am going to share something with you today that you must keep an absolute secret. You must not tell anyone what I am about to tell you, especially not the police.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 14, 2005
Japan's wildlife: domesticated and lazy
When I first came to Japan, I thought, "Where are all the animals?" Japan doesn't seem to have the small urban-adapted wildlife like we have in the United States, such as squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks or even very many birds. Other than the City Mouse, animals just don't seem to move to the cities here....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 7, 2005
A golden week of Jakarta traffic chaos
I admit, I fled. I wanted to go somewhere for Golden Week but I didn't want an organized, efficient, clean vacation like I'd have traveling around Japan. I wanted something more spontaneous, more edgy, with a little more risk. I longed for the chaos of a big South Asian city, and people with big natural...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 30, 2005
New: foreigner-friendly Japanese food
"Yokoso Japan!" is the slogan for the current Visit Japan campaign, which according to their Web site was designed "to promote foreign tourist traffic to Japan." I just hope the foreigners don't bring their cars.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 23, 2005
Put on your Nike shoes and 'just squat'
For years now, readers have been sending me their opinions on toilets. I can almost consider myself a toilet therapist. Every time I mention toilets in a column, I am sure to get opinions, especially regarding which is better -- the Western-style toilet or the Japanese-style toilet.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 16, 2005
Culture shock, or mere static cling?
Culture shock, similar to an electrical shock, is something one experiences when moving to a foreign country. One can also experience reverse culture shock when returning to their home country after having lived abroad for an extended period of time. The culture shock I experienced coming to Japan for...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 9, 2005
'Too friendly'? Hopelessly Midwestern
I am crossing America by Amtrak train and am now leaving the Wild West headed east through the Midwest. Much of the Midwest is prairie, farms and cows. Collectively these states are called the Plains States, probably because they are indeed very plain. Not a thing is growing at this time of year, but...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 2, 2005
Wild West: buffalo and private Sno-Cats
The great thing about Amtrak's North American Rail Pass is that for one price, you can get on and off the train whenever you want within a 30-day period. But I must warn you there is a danger that might make you never want to get back on the Amtrak train again. That danger is falling in love with the...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 26, 2005
Riding on the 'pachinko train' to Reno
The train dropped me off at night right in the middle of Reno, Nev., where neon lights flashed everywhere and casinos lined the streets. The railroad to Reno was built in 1868 and the train runs over the mountains, not through tunnels. This is probably whey we don't have bullet trains in the U.S. --...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 19, 2005
Unraveling the mysterious choo-choos
Japan is a nation obsessed by trains. Every time you turn on the TV, there is a program about trains. Not necessarily high-speed trains, either. These programs cover trains around the world, celebrities traveling across Japan by train, or just trains choo-chooing peacefully through mountain scenery to...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 12, 2005
Respect carries a high price tag in Asia
I often meet people who are taking off a few months to travel through Asia. These people spend months traveling through China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, etc., but they invariably skip Japan.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 5, 2005
Get! Strunk & White's punctuation soup
The Japanese have some unique ways of learning English. Did you know, for example, that you can learn English from animal crackers? Yes, animal crackers in Japan have English names on them, presumably to provide an educational aspect to snacks. Talk about forcing the language down our throats! Perhaps...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 26, 2005
The woes of the misunderstood 'gaijin'
I've been a nonnative speaker of Japanese for 12 years now. I'll go weeks without speaking a word of English, since where I live, I'm the only "gaijin." But after several years of consistent hard work, I have trained the 700 people on my island to understand my gaijin Japanese. We are almost at the point...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 19, 2005
Lesser of two evils: squat or tourist tush?
One common complaint I hear about Japanese youth these days is that "they sit anywhere." This statement refers to young people sitting on the ground. One reason for this phenomenon is that young people in Japan never used to loiter because they were in school six days a week and even spent Sundays participating...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 12, 2005
You've earned it: lifetime 'gaijin' status!
Japan Lite reader Peter Miller asks: After an extended stay in Japan, does one ever cease to regard oneself as a "gaijin" (foreigner)?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 5, 2005
'O-baa-chans' on the loose in Bali shops
I recently had the opportunity to accompany two Japanese women to Bali, Indonesia. This is not the first time I have been a personal tour guide for Japanese going to Bali, but this time was different because I was taking two very special people: my next-door neighbor Kazuko and another islander, Hiroko....
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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