Category Archives: Uncategorized

Is Japan a “Racist Monoculture”? On Anders Breivik’s Japan

Posted on July 27, 2011 by

As I was leaving the train station, I heard the Japanese national anthem. People were waving flags. Some guy was shouting about “gaikokujin” (“foreigners”) through a loud-speaker. I stopped and stared until a young flag-waving woman raised her bullhorn, looked … Continue reading →

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Posted in Culture Shock, Fukuoka, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 30 Comments

On Climbing Mount Fuji (With a Fear of Heights)

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

About 300,000 people a year climb Mt. Fuji. A handful of them die. Very few of them get panic attacks from standing on porches. I’m acrophobic: Seven feet high and I’m nervous. Higher up I get dizzy; at 30 feet … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

On Being the Fattest

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

Not every kid in Japan cares about learning English, and so they use class time to work toward other life goals: Homework from other classes, arm wrestling contests or listening to their talking dictionaries pronounce various euphemisms for sex. Recently, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture Shock, Food, Uncategorized, Weird | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

A Link For Hungry Japanese Learners…

Posted on July 8, 2011 by

Anyone who has ever watched me “talk” to Japanese people may find this shocking, but I’m honored to have a guest post over at Zonjineko, one of the best Japanese-language-learning sites on the web. Because I haven’t starved to death in … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, language, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

On the Death of Japan

Posted on July 6, 2011 by

Everywhere you look, people say Japan is dying. The Economist says Japan is dying. Curators say Japan is dying. The numbers say Japan is dying. There is no dispute that the Japanese get older as the children get scarcer: Ten … Continue reading →

Posted in Fukuoka, Thinking, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

On Using a Japanese Toilet

Posted on June 29, 2011 by

I still don’t know what “standby mode” means for a toilet.

Posted in Culture Shock, Tradition, Uncategorized, Weird | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments