Minimalism - Online Income - ESL - Japan
On September 6th, 2006, Prince and Princess Akishino gave birth to their third child. It was an important event because at 39 years old, it was looking unlikely that the couple would have another child, and had it not been a boy, Japan would have had no heir to the Emperor’s throne. The birth of Prince Hisahito finally ended the debate over whether the country should allow female succession. The Japanese […]
Here’s the latest installment in my English T-shirts in Japan series. This one is modelled by a ten-year-old boy in one of my English classes. I really don’t know what the message is here. Do you? Does anybody? What were the designers thinking? In fact, what was the mother thinking when she bought this T-shirt? Perhaps this is how it happened… Designer: Okay, I’ll draw a scary dragon and add some random English phrases from […]
Maybe it’s just because I’m his dad, but Rikuto is getting more adorable each day. Take a look at these photos of him on his front. He used to cry after just a few seconds on his belly, but now he seems to enjoy it. After looking at the last picture I posted of Rikuto, my Net Buddy was saying how quickly Rikuto is growing. Very true. Time is flying and it it […]
If there’s one sport I really don’t understand, it’s baseball. It’s not that I don’t understand the rules, I just don’t see the appeal of it as a spectator. There are far too many stops and starts, and the ball is too small to see anyway! Celebrating with sales – 20% off! Some people love baseball, but for me, the best thing about the sport is that if your local team wins the […]
I’ve lost count. I’ve bought either six or seven Japanese home PCs since coming to Japan and would be lost without my beloved computer. My wife often jokes that I love my PC more than her because I spend more time in my home office than I do in the living room. I solved that problem by setting up Skype on her laptop so she can call me from downstairs! Mami rarely uses her laptop. In fact, she struggles to […]
Recently, after he discovered his hands, Rikuto has been sucking his fingers and using them to grasp anything within reach. Today we took him to AEON Kakamigahara and paraded him around the shopping center in his little pushchair. Since he’s starting to use his hands, we thought we’d get him a Big O Ball, a rubber ball described by Library Style as… a 7.5 inch ball full of finger holes that is incredibly easy to catch, captivating […]
Would a Japanese samurai defeat a Medieval European knight? That’s a question John Clements attempts to answer in his essay titled “The Medieval European Knight vs. The Feudal Japanese Samurai?” In this “amusing historical diversion”, Clements uses over 7,000 words to explain the key elements of an encounter between the two warriors. While I recommend you read the essay, here’s my 300-word summary for those of you that grew up with MTV. The Scenario We’ll imagine that […]
My wife and I have been debating whether or not to buy our son, Rikuto, a traditional Japanese school bag. He won’t need one for another six years, but there’s no harm in planning ahead, right? These bags are called randoseru, taken from the Dutch word for backpack (ransel), and are usually leather bags costing around $300. Mami’s reasons for buying Rikuto a Japanese school bag It’s tradition; All the other […]