Clik here to view.
Mistreated Muppets
One of the things you have to deal with in a cram school is the seemingly permanent comatose state of high school students. Being a workaholic in Japan seems to be about standard and the kids aren’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Coping with Old Age
Crammed in, squashed, crushed and suffocating from a heady mix of ineffective deodorant and sweat, rattling along in the bus towards the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. I had made the fatal mistake of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Turning Japanese
What you aren’t prepared for, after the initial wave of culture shock has subsided and you have begun to settle down in Japan, is how much you become like the people who stare at you in this most...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brazen Oldies
I’m used to being stared at in Japan, but one hundred and fifteen senior citizens all staring at me at once is a new experience to be honest. That they were expecting a speech from me was all the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three White Russians, a Buddhist Priest and a Gaijin
Japan is as littered with peculiar contrasts as any country, but having modernized so quickly and completely, having lurched into modernity at such a pace while simultaneously remaining quite distinct...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Harry Potter and the Matsukawa Matsuri
Japan in the summer is hot, it’s humid and frankly downright unpleasant at times. In addition, we’re currently experiencing the last vestiges of the rainy season or ‘tsuyu’, which means that I am never...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pedantic Paperwork II: The tale of the elusive license
When it comes to getting a driving license in Japan, it’s all a matter of timing. The window that you need to get to in the giant mess of a bureaucratic testament to 1980’s flat pack architecture (part...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Real Cuteness Means Hard Work
Bound at the ankle and being screamed at in a high pitch wail, my life in Japan had once again taken a turn into new realms of oddness. Hold on, take a deep breath. I don’t live in Tokyo and this story...
View Article
