If you’re anything like me, by the time spring rolls around you’ll be itching to get outside to pay homage to the return of the warmer weather. One of my favourite Japan holidays to date was one such outing. Hiking through the vast ancient forests that escaped the ravages of the Second World War in…
A delicious creamy stew with seasonal oysters. If oysters aren’t your thing or are not in season, this stew can be made with chicken or pork or with added vegetables for a vegetarian option.
Golden week is coming up. For many of us, that means travel – whether it be to places in Japan we haven’t been before, or to a new destination abroad – there seems to be no better time to travel than in the long, warm spring holiday. Despite the cost that is. As all of…
It may be the year of the dragon, but Amy Chua, Tiger Mother, is still lingering in the spotlight. Last year, her bestselling book on Chinese parenting, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, created uproar after an excerpt was published in The Wall Street Journal, and angry parents railed against her controversial parenting style. Ms….
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This dashing young man may look familiar if you’re big on Japanese history and drama – moreso if you’re interested in books you shouldn’t write in. 　
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Last school year I heard my vice-principal half-whispering to my principal: “Oh, Amanda? She can do it.” “It” was teaching two out of three junior high school grades without a JTE.   We had gone from three JTEs to two because of students-to-staff proportional downsizing, and it was just too many classes for them to teach. …
We live in an era of branding, labeling, slogan-ing, identifying, and trying to fit in even when we purposely stand out: an age of individualism, but where you want that individualism to be called something. A period where having no identity is an ‘identity’.  A dispensation of ‘me’, my way. A time of “I want…