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- Life In Japan: The Telephone Booth | John Rachel on Life In Japan: I Love Japan Redux
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- Look who is praising The China Trilogy: the votes are in – it R-O-C-K-S! What are you waiting for? – CHINA RISING on An Unlikely Truth
- Look who is praising The China Trilogy: the votes are in – it R-O-C-K-S! What are you waiting for? – CHINA RISING on Books
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Category Archives: Social Commentary
Life In Japan: Vegetable Gardens
Gardens are the thing here in Japan, especially vegetable gardens. Even yours truly gets in on the action from time to time. As a city-boy born and raised in the industrial heartland of Detroit, Michigan I have to confess to a bit of awe when a seed or two actually sprouts, grows, and I end up with the fruits — and vegetables — of my personal labor on the dinner table. Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Social Commentary
Tagged Japan, land use, organic farming, Tambasasayama, Tokyo, vegetable gardens
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Life In Japan: National Holidays
Holidays here in Japan are innocent, demonstrating cultural pride and appreciation. I can’t help but smile and be grateful I’m not hearing war drums, 21-gun salutes, and parades of politicians moralizing about the honor of dying on the battlefield. Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Social Commentary, Travel
Tagged Autumnal Equinox Day, Childrens Day, Coming of Age Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Culture Day, Greenery Day, Health-Sports Day, holidays, Japan, Labor Thanksgiving Day, Marine Day, Mountain Day, National Foundation Day, New Years Day, Respect for the Aged Day, Showa Day, Vernal Equinox Day
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Life In Japan: Ground Golf
Why does my hometown maintain a huge playing field for ground golf? To give old folks something to do and an excuse to socialize. Can you imagine? Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Social Commentary, Travel
Tagged community life, festivals, ground golf, Japan, Tambasasayama
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Life In Japan: Planting Soybeans
Fasten your seat belts. The excitement builds fast as we make a hole, then insert greenhouse-grown seedling, push the dirt back in the hole, wait, read a book, build an atomic submarine in a bottle out of old match sticks, wait some more, fertilize the plant a couple times in the summer, keep waiting (patience is very important in farming), as things on the soybean growing scene keep gathering momentum. Then finally sometime in October it all builds to a final earth-shaking, rib-rattling, jaw-dropping finale. Continue reading
Posted in Food, Japan, Social Commentary
Tagged black beans, edamame, Japan, patience, soybeans, submarine in a bottle, Tambasasayama, wild boar
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Life In Japan: Shoes!
Japanese DO NOT wear their shoes inside their homes. I can’t begin to tell you how difficult this was for me to understand and adjust to when I initially arrived. Continue reading
Posted in Deconstruction, Japan, Social Commentary, Travel
Tagged bellybutton lint, bird poop, carpets, dog poop, floors, fur, hair, hygiene, Japan, Japanese customs, shoes, skin flakes, USA, worms
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Life In Japan: Shrines and Temples
Houses of worship, i.e. temples and shrines, are everywhere here in Japan — even some Christian churches — but at a much more modest level of “everywhere” than the U.S. Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Social Commentary, Spiritual
Tagged Buddha, Buddhism, cathedrals, Christianity, churches, God, Gomorrah, Islam, Japan, Judaism, monasteries, Shinto, shrines, Sodom, synagogues, Tambasasayama, temples, tofu burger
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Life In Japan: JA
JA stands for Japan Agriculture. JA is a huge, sprawling organization, with hundreds of stores, facilities, and offices across the entire country. But … it’s not a corporation. It’s not a government facility, branch, or department. It’s a COOPERATIVE! Continue reading
Posted in Banking, Economics, Food, Japan, Social Commentary, Travel
Tagged agriculture, community, community service, cooperative, JA, Japan, Tambasasayama
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Life In Japan: Taylor Swift in Tokyo
In November 2018, my wife Masumi, her daughter Izumi, and yours truly, ambled like sheep with close to 50,000 other folks into the Tokyo Dome for an evening of pop entertainment featuring Charli XCX and Taylor Swift. The arena concert was a technological marvel and my whole life passed before me. Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Music, Social Commentary, Travel
Tagged Charli XCX, cosplay, Kobe Japan, Lady Gaga, pop culture, Taylor Swift, Tokyo, Westernization
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Life In Japan: Kobe’s Luminarie
There are so many dazzling, interesting, spectacular festivals and celebrations going on in Japan, it’s often overwhelming. The Luminarie is extremely beautiful but more somber than most. It has been held every year now for twenty-three years in downtown Kobe, to commemorate the thousands of victims of the 1995 earthquake which devastated much of the city. Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Social Commentary, Travel
Tagged commemoration, Japan, Kobe earthquake, Luminarie
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Living In Japan: Lotus Flowers, a Castle, and a Moat
We have a 400-year-old castle in the center of town. Well, to be fair it’s really the ruins of a castle. Even so, it’s an impressive sight and many of our festivals and fairs are held in an area adjacent to the castle compound. It’s completely surrounded by cherry trees, so it’s a popular spot during the Cherry Blossom festival, and whenever the weather is good, for families and friends to picnic, for people to stroll. Continue reading →