The first time I flew into Japan, my initial thought as I looked out the jumbo jet window was, “Wow, the roofs are all so blue.” This was back in 1991, and the flight path to Narita passed over homes that were...
Japan is famously one of the safest countries in the world in regard to routine crimes. Whether you are strolling by yourself late at night through the heart of Tokyo or repeatedly forgetting your sizeable wallet on...
They say that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. In Japan, another thing you can be sure of is that those two will come with a lot of paperwork. And not just those two big life changes. Whether it’s...
A few nights ago, my wife suddenly grabbed her stomach in pain. “Ouch,” she said. It was a very loud and long-lasting “ouch,” and as this had happened earlier in the week as well, we thought it best to have a doctor...
Weekly reports of mass shootings out of America are worrying. But the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō in Nara a few weeks ago reminded everyone that such things aren’t limited to the United States. It...
So, you want to overcome your fear of speaking. I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that I’m not referring that kind of speaking, the kind of victory that Japanese language learners crave. I myself...
Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world, averaging 84.62 years (according to 2020 data from the World Bank). It also has a reasonably priced healthcare system, with insurance picking up seventy...
Japan is famous for its rich and enduring culture. And hey, you can’t just keep all that culture bottled up. You need to put it on display. What better way than to put some of it in a museum for people to enjoy. About...
When you move to Japan, especially from the West, you quickly learn that whatever you used to call “normal” is more correctly named “normal for my culture.” The default for many things—actually, for basically...
On the train line I ride most often, most of the stations are above ground. But there are a handful of underground stops with a tunnel on each end. I have noticed that at the stop just before the tunnel, the conductor...
Tim Patrick
