: My must-do in Japan. Shopping for stationary.
: Strange and Change. Out of place. Weird. Strange. In Japanese, the adjective “hen” (変) captures these …
: The Next One A reporter once asked Charlie Chaplin what he considered his best work. Chaplin replied, “The next …
: The Wind of Tomorrow In Japan, there’s a saying: 明日の風は明日吹く (Ashita-no-kaze-wa-ashita-fuku) …
: Changing the key. When we think it can’t get better than this. When we think it can’t get any higher than …
: The difference between art and product. Legendary game designer and creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, once said at a press conference: I …
: A different kind of super hero An-Pan Man is cartoon hero in Japan. Every kid in Japan knows who he is. But he’s a different …
: The best way to eat cake Here’s an unexpected thing I learned from studying pastry at a culinary school in Japan. For …
: The slanted sushi. A few years ago I was at a sushi restaurant in Tokyo with my boss and another coworker. We were …
: Issho Benkyo, Issho Seishun One of the famous works of the Japanese poet and calligrapher, Mitsuo Aida, is “一生勉強 一生青 …
: Celebrating a rocket explosion Today SpaceX’s Starship rocket blew up shortly after launch. From the coverage from The New York …
: Mikata (味方) There are people who don’t believe you. Those who don’t see what you see. There are the …
: Japanese Music and Movie Update Looking forward to the Japanese animated film, Suzume, which will be in theaters here in the US next …
: Rock Garden Sitting at the foothills of a mountain northwest of Kyoto is Ryoanji, a Zen temple built over 500 …
: Japanese Music and Books Update Comic books I’ve been re-reading. Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. And J-Pop songs I’ve …
: Warming up the past. I don’t reflect enough. I’m wasting my mental time travel powers. If the past were dishes of …
: Two Ways to Win A figure skater can win in two ways. First way: to have a better score than other competitors. …
: Japanese TV and Music Update Some nice Japanese TV dramas I’ve enjoyed recently. Angel Flight on Amazon Prime Video Sumo Do, …
: Pressing Start This dream. This idea. It has been sitting with me for many years. A few months after Satoru Iwata, …
: Which mountain to climb? On the wall of a conference room in Nintendo’s headquarters in Japan hangs a calligraphy painting …
: Nice Japanese pop song of the week. Algernon by Yorushika. Yorushika is a Japanese rock duo. Their …
: The Overview Effect About twenty years ago when I was working as a management consultant in Japan, Google released …
: Chaplin and Kaizen A reporter once asked Charlie Chaplin what he considered his best work. Chaplin replied: The next …
: The Orange Train I stepped out of the express train that carried me from the airport to the Tokyo station. It was a …