Hello? Is anyone out there still? I’ve been neglecting this blog in favor of massive cramming for the JLPT for quite a while now. Well it all went down last Sunday, finally, and let’s just say I’d better have fucking passed. So now I’m trying to remember where you and I left off. I have …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Dear Gossip/News Bloggers of Japan, First of all, let me express my gratitude. I perhaps came across as a bit bitchy in my last post about the Kana Washino murder. And to be fair, that was my intention. But at the same time I am grateful to you. You scroll through the dark depths of …
The other day, a popular Japanese news blog revealed that, according to information obtained on Shohei Komori’s twitter profile, the suspected murderer describes his preference in women as “でブス専”. In other words, the man at the center of an unproven love triangle that left his wife jealous enough to kill her rival, Kana Washino, wrote …
Back when Little Prince started Japanese youchien last April, whenever the 3-year-old got frustrated or otherwise overwhelmed by big feelings, he would pull the masks off all his teachers’ faces. Of course I was duly mortified when the vice-principal told me this, but at the same time the school’s staff insisted that it was because …
I was actually considering sending Little Prince to Japanese elementary school in a couple of years’ time. Unlike Young Sir, who is best suited to his small alternative-style elementary school, Little Prince is very sociable and could enjoy the large class sizes. But that was before I crossed paths The Morning Machine. I don’t know …
Mr. Yoshida (not really his name) lives two doors down from us. I see him at least once a day. Sometimes I pass him at 7:30am, as I whisk Young Sir off to to first grade on the back of my bicycle. Other days it is 9:30 am, walking Little Prince to the kindergarten bus …
Last week Japan’s uninspiring prime minster, Yoshihide Suga, surprised nobody by announcing that he would not seek reelection by his party at the end of the month. Suga’s lackluster career as PM began about one year ago, when Shinzo Abe resigned due to his terrible IBS, and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party needed a place …