Tag Archives: Japan

Life In Japan: My Bike Ride to Teach English

Posted on July 25, 2019 by johnrachel

I ride my bike to and from the English class I teach whenever it’s not raining.  Many of the photos appearing in other essays at this site were taken on that bike ride. I frankly never get tired of riding anywhere here in our traditional, rural town. There’s still a lot to see and discover. People I hardly know always wave. Smiles are our common language. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: The Naked American

Posted on July 6, 2019 by johnrachel

My nickname back in 2008 in the town I live in here in Japan was “the naked American”. I’ve never been either fond or adverse to nudism. But now I hear that women can go topless now in six states in the U.S., meaning I apparently was just ahead of my time, leading the charge for freeing nipples from oppressive censorship. Even so, I am forced to concede that my desire to be a tanned demigod was not very respectful of the local folks here. Continue reading →

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Living In Japan: Lotus Flowers, a Castle, and a Moat

Posted on June 25, 2019 by johnrachel

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 →

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Life In Japan: Vegetable Gardens

Posted on June 2, 2019 by johnrachel

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 →

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Life In Japan: National Holidays

Posted on May 28, 2019 by johnrachel

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 →

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Life In Japan: Ground Golf

Posted on May 10, 2019 by johnrachel

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 →

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Life In Japan: Planting Soybeans

Posted on April 18, 2019 by johnrachel

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 →

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Life In Japan: Planting Rice

Posted on April 5, 2019 by johnrachel

Preparing the soil to plant rice is a wet, muddy, mucky mess. l know because I’ve watched them prepare the fields directly in front of my house several years on and off. It’s astonishing how quickly the rice grows. Soon our entire valley is an intense, vibrant green, going from almost incandescent lime to the rich, deep emerald of a mature plant. Maybe I have too much time on my hands and too little excitement, but when I ride my bike through the fields of viridescent rice, I’m struck by the incredible beauty of it all. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Bamboo

Posted on March 31, 2019 by johnrachel

Unbeknownst to me in the dark days of my bambooless ignorance, this rather simple tree has a whole host of applications. Anyone from Asia needs to just bear with me here. This is all so obvious to you. But I’m embarrassed to have to admit, before I started traveling this hemisphere, I had no clue about bamboo. Continue reading →

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Life In Japan: Tilling The Soil

Posted on March 5, 2019 by johnrachel

As belated as my agricultural epiphany is, I’m now aware of what’s been going on “behind the scenes” for 20,000 years now. Please don’t laugh. I know my ignorance is pathetic. But better late than never. Or is it? Anyway, the first stage in getting stuff to grow? Preparing the soil! Actually I can relate. What boy doesn’t like to play in the dirt! Continue reading →

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