Japan Journal

Last Hike Down from Akaishi

Rainy season ended Friday and Japanese summer officially arrived so I celebrated. I had a bowl of soba then drank through 3 different bars each more boring than the previous […]

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Japan Journal

THE心霊写真

One of the joys of Japanese summer is ghost stories, a tradition that dates back to the Edo when the official holiday of Tanabata (seventh day of the seventh lunar […]

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Japan Now

Foreign reporting takes of Japan as Japanese cuisine

Here’s a fun game for long term gaijin residents of Japan. We all know the Japan portrayed in foreign news reportage and stink tank ‘Japanese expert’ analysts, rarely, if ever, […]

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Japan Journal

無敵な人

There is a internet slang Japanese expression “無敵な人” loosely explained as “a person who has no hesitation in committing crimes because they have nothing to lose socially”. There is also […]

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Japan Journal

The karinto lesson: a good nature makes all the difference

My partner was born and raised on Sado and is always telling me stories of growing up there. I’ll try to write some of them down. This is a tale […]

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Japan Journal

Don’t tell papa

Back when we still watched TV, I channel surfed to some kind of Japanese program with the usual mix of ‘talent’ panelists talking with an invited guest, a youngish looking […]

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