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Happy Belated Birthday
It may be Christmas Eve Eve in the Western world, but yesterday was a national holiday in Japan — the Emperor’s birthday! I asked M.’s host how this holiday is traditionally celebrated, and he said, “Hmm. The emperor comes on TV. Everyone stays home to watch. It’s not very exciting.” He made it much more [… Read More]
Centipedes? In My Shoes?
It’s more likely than you think. Japan is reputed to be one of the safest places in the world, and aside from the very occasional purse-snatcher, there is nothing to fear. Except centipedes and monkeys. Signs like these are up all over M.‘s dorm. I particularly enjoy the image of a carful of centipedes, even [… Read More]
Junk from Japan
(food, that is) There’s a ton of delicious food here in Japan, but some of the cheapest and most interesting tidbits can be found in local “combini” — not an Italian term, as it might appear, but a Japanese corruption of “convenience stores”. This stuff may not always be the healthiest or most traditional foodstuffs [… Read More]
Kyoto Cityscape
(Note: the previous entry has been updated to include a disclaimer about the snopes page I linked. After reading it more closely, I decided it needed to be addressed directly.) When M. told people he was moving to Kyoto, a lot of Americans expressed dismay. “Japan must be so unpleasant,” they worried. “You know, it’s [… Read More]