I know, the title is ridiculous, but if I try to sum up yesterday this is what I think about. We're riding home in a taxi - from central Tokyo, a new friend's place, a diplomat. Sarah calls the house Downton Abbey, it's not quite that, but compared to the housing I've seen in Japan so far, … Continue reading Diplomats abroad, Nuclear threats and when your Japanese taxi driver talks about nipples.
We went home for Christmas, and inevitably everyone asks what it's like to live in Japan. And they will mention politeness, sushi, fancy gadgets and dirty underwear from a vending machine (yes,that viral story is still remembered today). If they've visited Japan they'll mention how wonderful everything was and is it just as wonderful all the … Continue reading Decaf Coffee & Fat people – things that surprise me in Japan
I showed this picture to my Japanese teacher. She said it was a classic Japanese set meal. A little of everything. Rice, fish, pickles and Soba. The Soba is made from a seed - did you know that? It's more protein than carb. This is at our local, where the soba is divine. But it … Continue reading Arguing over Soba, accidentally drinking 20% alcohol & Princess Diana’s therapist
I wake up when I hear her pottering around. I wake up happy. In fact, since I got married, I always wake up happy. Is this what it's like to say 'yes' more? Perhaps. I get up to make her breakfast. Eggs and avocado on toast. Sarah passes me in the kitchen and says I look like Christmas, Tokyo has … Continue reading Three questions I always get asked in Japan
No talent needed. If confidence is a problem, they'll serve you drinks. I've not been with anyone who hasn't eventually opened up to the best therapy money can buy. Great thing is you can find it on every corner and as long as you're with consenting adults, it's good fun. Yesterday after dinner, S&I decided … Continue reading You can do it on your own but it’s better in a pair. Awesome in groups. Bring your trombone if you like. Karaoke in Japan.
Part of expat life is collecting strange and foreign moments, and I'm fully away aware it's an incomplete part of a puzzle. I live in an expat, foreign bubble. I have no idea how representative my experience is, I expect it's pretty narrow. Part of being an expat is also about experiencing new things like, finding … Continue reading Life in Japan: why a stranger bought me minced chicken, the debate on sexlessness in Japan, and affairs with married women
It's hard to summarise a neighbourhood we've just moved into. We've only started to explore the rows of narrow back streets that cross, intertwine and meet at the station. They run away in all directions and I haven't got around to discovering them all yet. I will. My sense of direction is not my strongest point. I only … Continue reading Our neighbourhood – cuteness overload, narrow streets and where I’m often stared at
If you want to live here, you need a residency card, so you take your permission slip from the immigration office (don't ask me about mine, it's a pain in the arse at the moment) and go the the local ward office. It's not that different from going to the local council in England, only the … Continue reading The ground-breaking thing to remember in Japan
And it's also the place known where some of the first foreign settlers came. This was our first settling point too, it's where we spent our first night, and then the next two weeks, in a sardine-tin room, eating the same oddity of breakfast (fish and sausage and rice and salad anyone?) overlooking the seafront, … Continue reading Yokohama home of Asia’s largest China town and our first encounter of Gaijin-Phobia
Japanese guide to winning friends and influencing your apartment block
TOKYO FOR BEGINNERS 