Seated next to Dr. NakaMats at a study group at the International House of Japan, I listened to researcher Watanabe Tsuneo -- not the onetime Yomiuri boss -- explain the meaning of "nappy-headed hos" in Japanese to an audience of businessmen and retired diplomats and politicians.Beat that, if you can.
Tag: Life in Japan
All fungoes, all the time
Believe it or not, the year-round extravaganza that is Japanese baseball is gearing up for another season.It seems like only yesterday -- mere weeks after my arrival here -- that the Trey Hillman-managed Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters bested the Chunichi Dragons in the Japan Series.What prompted this post? One of the sports channels offered by …
Passing out leaflets on cold January morns
I've just arrived at the office after an hour and a half -- from 6:30am to 8am -- of distributing fliers outside a nearby train station. This was the third morning this week of standing outside a train station during the morning rush greeting commuters with "ohayou gozaimasu" and "Minshuto desu."I figured that three mornings …
Soy it ain’t so
And now for some serious news...In early January natto -- a uniquely Japanese soybean dish about which no Japanese is neutral -- was hailed on a Japanese variety show as being able to reduce a person's weight by two-three kilograms in two or three weeks if eaten twice a day. It turns out, however, that …
The rotten heart of ‘ugly Japan’
Taking a break from chronicling the fortunes of Abe Shinzo, I found this article in the Japan Times fascinating.It reports on talk of relocating the elevated expressway that currently runs over the Nihonbashi Bridge, a historic landmark in the center of Tokyo and once the origin point for the Tokaido trunk road that ran from …
(Thanksgiving) Evening in Japan
Meanwhile, Thanksgiving here has come and gone. Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers.Thanksgiving being my favorite of American national holidays, I would have liked to find somewhere to have Thanksgiving dinner tonight, but emails went unanswered, so I made pancakes and watched Simpsons DVDs while waiting for Kamakura Cable to set up my internet and …
Tightrope walking
Before I continue with my running commentary on Japanese politics, I want to just make it clear to my readers the fine line I'm treading. Because I'm on the staff of a senior member of the opposition DPJ, I'm perhaps not as free to be objective about Japanese politics as my academic's mind would prefer …
I move to Kamakura, and the education bill moves to the Upper House
I have now moved out from Kaiyo Gakuen -- where I spent my last night speaking to the students, pegged as future leaders of Japan, about the importance of learning about foreign societies and appreciating Japan's responsiblities as a great power. (I previously wrote about my surveying of students' ideas here.)I have moved to Kamakura, …
Continue reading I move to Kamakura, and the education bill moves to the Upper House
My little survey
Over the past several days, I have given my students essay topics -- explained here -- that have asked for their views on US-Japan and Japan-China relations. My prompts weren't explicitly political; they could address any and all aspects of these relationships, including culture, economics, cuisine, language, and politics.I'm not going to say that I …
Tobias S. Harris 