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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Japan’s Least Popular Arcade Game |
I’ve developed something bordering on fanaticism for the Taiko Drum game and spend way too much money and time in video arcades as a result. “Game Centers,” as the kids call them, are usually a few floors with gambling on … Continue reading
Posted in Fun, Uncategorized, Video, Weird
4 Comments
On The Bullet Train | 新幹線
Maybe the Shinkansen, Japan’s cross-country bullet train, is only interesting until you’ve ridden it. I was ecstatic to take the Shinkansen on a trip from Fukuoka to Tokyo. It’s a 14-hour drive by car achieved in a little under 5 … Continue reading
Posted in Travel, Uncategorized, Video
6 Comments
The DNA of a Japanese Suburb
“In many new office buildings the windows don’t open. In especially bad buildings, like the average Wal-Mart, windows are dispensed with nearly altogether. This process of disconnection from the past and the future, and from the organic patterns of weather … Continue reading
Posted in Fukuoka, Uncategorized
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On Christmas in Japan | メリクリスマス！
I am not spending Christmas on a date at Kentucky Fried Chicken. But hey, I’m a foreigner. Christmas in Japan In the war on Christmas, we know what side Japan is on: The country is not inclined to celebrate the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
15 Comments
On Being Illiterate in Japan | 馬鹿外人
There are incomprehensible signs, everywhere, and every sign is made of smaller signs I can’t read. I can’t read a map or follow directions. I am educated and illiterate, wealthy and incapable of communicating anything to anyone. But, I have … Continue reading
Posted in Culture Shock, Kanji, Uncategorized
7 Comments
On Watching “Mad Men” in Japan | セクハラ
Every guy in Japan wears a suit and smokes. They take trains from the suburbs into an office with a formal dress code and work until 10 p.m. every day. On their breaks, they’re going to convenience stores in suits … Continue reading
Posted in Culture Shock, Uncategorized
17 Comments
