2021 wasn’t the best of years, certainly not a good one for transit as ridership everywhere continues to be severely impacted by COVID. Yet travel in Japan felt normal, more […]
Japan Journal
Hidden Sado
The air in Sado is full of fading history, a history that is never far away for the people born and raised there. Their history is like an acquaintance, a […]
Japan Now
May the Pfizer be with you
My partner is a doctor so from day one of the COVID crisis I have been listening to a few mantras: 1) Vaccinations don’t stop people from getting infected, they […]
Cool Japan - Culture Wars
The YouTube JP Zeitgeist: boobs, butts, celebrities and gossip gurl Heraiza
I have no idea who the top Japanese YouTuber is right now but Heraiza is the ‘it girl’, the zeitgeist of our Japanese COVID state of emergency moment. Not only […]
Japan Now
The COVID vaccination experience in Japan
I saw a well dressed man getting on the Yamanote train yesterday. He was youngish and looked very professional but stood jarringly out of place without a face mask. I […]
Apple Pay Suica - Cool Japan - Suica - Transit
Riding 272km on 42km ICOCA fare
The ICOCA IC fare region extensions that went into effect March 13 have opened up some interesting transit possibilities. ICOCA has a 200km travel limit but the exit gate fare […]