A bay city with a nearby volcano, Kagoshima is a beautiful and rather unique Japanese city. The volcano, Sakurajima, is still active and thus erupts rather frequently. 1914 was perhaps its largest recorded eruption and covered the city in ash, including a torii on the volcano’s island. Its remarkable landscapes make Kagoshima City a…
“I love you.” Colin didn’t blink or put down his cup; he took a sip of tea and continued staring at his computer screen. I got the distinct feeling this had happened to him before. He clicked on something and I saw his eyes start to move as he read. He was infuriatingly calm. It…
If you’re anything like me (34 years old, six feet two inches, 96kg, orange birthmark above right eyelid) and you live in Japan and have a postbox, at least one hand, a functioning eye and a smattering of curiosity, then you’ve probably received in the past, and subsequently read, one of the myriad of…
Since I came to Japan, I’ve had people back home ask me “How are you finding it?†and I reply “Amazing! I’m earning the most money I have in my life.†This is meant to be a slight bit of tongue-in-cheek bathos but there is some truth to it– part of the reason I like…
March is here and that means spring; which mean sakura are around the corner! While we savor our last moments of kotatsu comfiness, we can also enjoy our last rounds of nabe and warm winter favorites. Milk stew is a delectable creation I discovered while having kyushoku 給食 (school lunch) at a local preschool…
On January the 31st (or 31th, as many of my students would have it), the Hyogo Book Club met to discuss David Mitchell’s Slade House. It was published on October 27th, 2015, mere days after the 12th book club meeting (for which we read Natsuo Kirino’s Real World) and of some significance to the…
Finally the winter months have begun to thaw and the first hints of spring are in the air, what bliss. For Japan, it means that the peak of the seasonal calendar is soon at hand. That’s right: It’s cherry blossom season and that means hanami parties. Between mid-March and early May, sakura trees bloom throughout…
Hello Spring! The end of winter is in sight and spring is just around the corner. This means that the end of the school year is here! If you’re planning to go away during the spring holidays, have a blast and recharge your batteries for the new school year. If you aren’t going away, plan…
By now, everyone who’s wanted to see the newest Star Wars entry should have already. For those who’ve not had the time or have been living under a rock, the seventh entry into the Star Wars film franchise was released on December 18th and has smashed pretty much every box office record there is…