drifter's Posts

  • Why are Japanese interest rates so low?
    August 26th, 2009By drifter
    Recently, during a lesson of mine, a Japanese student proudly informed the class that she has found a long-term savings plan at her bank that gave her over 1% interest! She was so happy at her apparent cleverness in beating the usually ridiculously low rates (typically somewhere in the neighborhood of about 0.5%). » Continue Reading
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  • Jesus Christ! (He lived in Aomori). Really?
    August 11th, 2009By drifter
    An active conspiracy theory that rivals the revelations of the Da Vinci Code awaits visitors to the sleepy village of Shingo, between Hachinohe and Towada Lake in Aomori Prefecture. Every year in June, a ceremony unlike any other in Japan awakens Shingo (called “Herai” in times long ago) and women in kimono dance around » Continue Reading
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  • Ice Hockey Alive and Well(?) in Japan
    April 13th, 2009By drifter
    photo credit: tata_aka_T Many transplanted hockey fans such as myself, thought they would be forced to give up their passion when they crossed the pond to live in Japan. Perhaps Japan’s best kept secret is that an entire hockey culture exists just below the radar of mainstream media. A couple years ago on a humid » Continue Reading
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  • North Korean Launch Has Many Faces
    April 7th, 2009By drifter
    We may never know for sure if Sunday’s launch was a Taepodong-2 missile, as the media prefers to report, or if in fact it was just a satellite as North Korea claims.  Regardless, we can be sure that the fear such a threat creates will be trumped up by the US, » Continue Reading
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  • The Teacher’s Balloon
    April 6th, 2009By drifter
    In search of excitement and something new, I decided to turn my life upside down and move across the Pacific. Before I went, some words by Japanese friends I’d made during previous travels encouraged me. “Western people are really cool in Japan!”  They said.  “Japanese girls love Western guys!” » Continue Reading
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  • On Trial: May I marry your daughter?
    March 19th, 2009By drifter
    “Moshi-moshi?” My fiancé answered her phone as we pulled into the restaurant parking lot. Her mom had phoned to tell us that they will be arriving shortly.  In a sea of stress, a drop of relief landed.  My finance’s father, whom she obviously got her stubbornness from, would not be joining us » Continue Reading
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  • Mount Fuji tried to kill me!
    March 4th, 2009By drifter
    Many people, from kids to old ladies, make the journey to the top so I took warnings tongue and cheek about what a challenge the climb is.  At 3,776 meters, I also knew it would be more than a hike in the park.  We were fully prepared for an eight hour » Continue Reading
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  • One Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
    February 25th, 2009By drifter
    As a foreigner working in Japan, of course I knew to watch what I say to avoid making a cultural blunder and offending someone.  But a passing comment to my boss about feeling a bit under the weather wasn’t the kind of thing I thought would get me into trouble.  But » Continue Reading
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