No slam dunk answers to make my decision easy here, I’m afraid… It does seem safe to say most of you don’t want short posts and more series, so I’ll keep that in mind. If I’m Forced to Cut Back on Blogging Time During My Move to Japan, How Should […] Read more
No pics for you today, just a brief check-in. Today was momentous in that for the first time, I received formal instruction in Kanji – and I’ll tell you, it feels like the beginning of a long, wonderful and terrible journey. I knew a few already from self-learning but still, […] Read more
A full day today, as the rain trickled down. I’d never been to Yokohama, so I thought it’d be fun to check out. I didn’t see the black ships but I did see Yokohama’s Chinatown, and got a sense for why this considered the most international of Japanese cities. There’s […] Read more
Here are a few pics from the lovely Gokukuji Temple complex in Western Tokyo. Sort of a forgotten temple for some reason, but it’s quite impressive. Read more
So damn busy I forgot to check back in yesterday… Tomorrow is a big day, as I go to the local government office (it’s a train and a bus) to register my address and get into the National Health Insurance system. At $20 a month for 100% coverage, I guess […] Read more
It was an eventful day in Tokyo for this idiot abroad… I’m still very much in tourist mode, but I sort of feel as if I became a real resident today – I got my first shoe locker, and my first commuter pass. Be it ever so humble, my guesthouse […] Read more
As mentioned, I went to see Ookami Kodomo last night.So, belatedly, here’s my brief review… I’ll preface it by saying that I didn’t realize when I bought the ticket that the show was letting out at Midnight. This was worrisome as I had to think about the last train, as […] Read more
I think the first time it really hit me that I was here for good was when I took the Yamanote Line this morning, and heard those station jingles. For whatever reason those just stand for Tokyo in my head. Having a curry pan and canned coffee for breakfast felt […] Read more
Departures and arrivals can both take it out of you, in their own way. Greetings from Tokyo, my new home. I arrived last night having been borne in the upper deck of an Airbus A380, easily the most monstrously huge plane I’ve ever flown. I think what they say about […] Read more
I’ve mentioned this in some of my blog posts, but I’ve come to believe very strongly that most of our regrets in life aren’t what we did and wish we hadn’t, but what we didn’t do and wish we had. The best anime about adults tend to dwell on the […] Read more