Category Archives: Thinking

On Being Alone in a Room in Japan

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Eryk Salvaggio

I once saw a man staring at a handheld television set on a train, eyes swelling with tears, looking at what might have been video footage of a woman gazing back at him, her eyes wet with empathy and openness. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture Shock, Thinking | Tagged loneliness | 11 Comments

On Always Having an Empty Train Seat Beside You in Japan

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Eryk Salvaggio

On a recent trip to the near-abandoned coal mining town of Tagawa, I took the wrong train three times, taking me into the true inaka – Japan’s rural backwater.

Posted in Culture Shock, Thinking, Uncategorized, Zen | Tagged japan, mindfulness, racism | 36 Comments

On Letting Go of a Tree Branch in Japan

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Eryk Salvaggio

There’s about 4,000 kids outside my apartment screaming about cherry blossoms.

Posted in Culture Shock, Homesickness, Thinking, Tradition, Zen | Tagged anxiety, cherry blossoms, haiku, japan, sakura, zen | 6 Comments

On Going to a Gay Bar in Japan

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Eryk Salvaggio

The night starts by asking a cab driver to take you to a school. It’s 11 p.m. and you have no business going to a school at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night, so the driver heads toward the school … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Shinto, Tradition, Uncategorized, Zen | Tagged gay, homosexuality, japan, lesbian, sexuality | 4 Comments

On Running in Japan

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Eryk Salvaggio

For the listener, who listens in the snow, And, nothing himself, beholds Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. – Wallace Stevens, “The Snowman” Japan makes me anxious.