Minimalism - Online Income - ESL - Japan
My general observations from living in Japan.
Checking my feeds today, I read Japan Probe’s post (Boycott Family Mart) about an anti-foreigner magazine called Gaijni Hanzai Ura Fairu, meaning ‘Foreigner Crime File’. Along with James at Japan Probe, foreign commentators, including Arudou Debito, are bringing this publication to the attention of the masses and encouraging a boycott of any store opting to sell it. The convenience store Family Mart is one place that sells it, and it’s […]
I’m really excited about the new shopping center they’re building on the other side of town. One thing I love about Japan is the convenience of everything, and when it comes to shopping, you can’t beat a shopping center. In all honesty, there’s nothing particularly different between modern shopping malls in Japan and the ones back home, but that won’t stop me welcoming the new Aeon Jusco into my little […]
The other day, Mami and I stopped off at our local supermarket to get some bread for my toasted sandwich maker, but ended up buying a whole trolley load of stuff. Fortunately, Japanese trolleys, or shopping carts if you prefer, are tiny. Anyway, stuck on the shelves were dozens of little red demons, called “Oni”. Apparently, they were there to celebrate Spring “Setsubun“, the start of Spring, which officially happens […]
Okay, so I didn’t win the “Nenmatsu Jumbo”, but as a teacher I get sent quite a lot of New Year cards from my students. These postcards, from the post office, are marked with a number which if you’re lucky could be picked as the winning number in the post office’s New Year lottery. Here’s some background on “Nengajou” from Wikipedia: The Japanese have a custom of sending New Year’s […]
Well for me at least. Apparently I’m a Tennoseijin (a kind of sun sign, I think) which is derived from my date and time of birth, and every 12 years you get one great year. Though I don’t follow astrology, or even read my horoscope, my wife does and she seems to know a lot. Most of Mami’s knowledge of astrology comes from reading Kazuko Hosoki’s books. The ‘queen’, as […]
While I got Mami a nice dressing table for Christmas, she bought me a toasted sandwich maker! We called them breville makers when I was a kid, and I used to love them so this was one of the best presents I could have asked for. Most of my Christmas meals were toasted sandwiches with loads of cheese, but I was gutted when on New Year’s Eve, we went to […]
Recently, Mami and I have been ordering a pizza every weekend. This is a bit of a luxury and something we would never have done just a year ago, but we feel like spoiling ourselves at the moment. So when we get a craving for pizza, we turn to Aoki’s Pizza, for our fill of cheese and tomato. I won’t fill up this post with a bunch of pizza pictures, […]
Before I came to Japan, I had never really seen a cockroach. Those first three months in Japan quickly changed that though as rainy season set in and the humid summer brought them out in droves. I was staying with my homestay family at the time, and while the whole family slept together in the air conditioned living room, I had my own room right above them. With just a […]