Prompt: Tell us about the a significant challenge or obstacle you’ve faced in your life. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?” How I Overcame Adversity in Kindergarten: an essay by Little Prince, circa 2035 “Banzai!” We all shouted in unison. “Banzai!” We hollered again, throwing our arms up to …
So I’m a member of this Facebook group called “Ask Autistic Adults.” In this discussion group, parents of autistic children pose questions that only members on the spectrum are allowed to answer. As a result, the insight I’ve gained from some of these responses has been invaluable, and I strongly recommend it for other non-autistic …
Hi friends! So just to put this out there, I will not be posting as much content for the rest of October and into November. I will try to write something about once a week, to keep myself sane, yet I must ban myself from posting any more than that until the JLPT is behind …
The Japanese Undoukai was invented in the Edo Period, as a means of torturing autistic individuals for the amusement of the Shogun. Wait, that’s not right. Let me start again. Japan’s Undoukai tradition was born out of the ashes of the Second World War, as a way to discreetly torture autistic people, in retaliation for …
Though I live in a high-rise apartment building, the earthquake last night didn’t faze me very much. Although maybe, admittedly, it should have. There are a few main reasons for this. The first is that my family was all together at the time, and my children were sleeping soundly in their beds. (Well Young sir …
Mikoku-yu does not have as many “frills” as the sentos I have written about thus far. It doesn’t have a sauna, a large outdoor bath or anime campaigns. It doesn’t have room for all that. Mikokuyu does, however, get the best-use-of space award. That is beyond a doubt. Mikokuyu is not just clean, it is …
Read more “The Great Shitamachi Sento Crawl, Part 3: Mikoku-yu”
Three years ago today, I was ferrying Young Sir home from Kumon, where he had unabashedly basked in his endless love of math and numbers. He did not attempt to burn down the classroom, or cause any trouble of that magnitude. His teacher had called him an o-rikosan, so I was feeling pleased with myself. …
Another reason I love Yudonburi, is its posters. These signs feature original images of anthropomorphic pink rabbits (or bears?…). The rabbit-bears exhibit atrocious manners while grinning mindlessly, in order to remind sento-goers of all the things we shouldn’t do. And I love them, whatever they are, because they do not look like me. “Manners,” are …
Yudonburi is the best. In a way, that’s all that needs to be said here. If you have the time to visit only one sento in the Shitamachi area, and you are wondering which one would be most worth your time, you can stop reading right now and just go to Yudonburi. The directions are …
Read more “The Great Shitamachi Sento Crawl, Part 2: Yudonburi-Sakaeyu”