When you move to Japan, one of the first things you realize is how woefully unprepared you are for the experience. Naturally, there’s the language to deal with, its never-ending foreign words and phrases...
In Shakespeare’s most famous romantic tragedy, Juliet tells her lover Romeo, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” She obviously never had to fill out Japanese paperwork...
This Monday, March 13, was a bright day in Japan, not just from the increasingly springlike weather, but also because of a newfound facial freedom. For it was on this day that various jurisdictions across the country...
Last week, I reviewed the international security and diplomacy elements of Prime Minister Kishida’s 2023 policy speech before the Japanese legislature. This time around, I will finish up a review of the speech by...
A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio summarized his administration’s policy goals at the opening of the 211th session of the Diet. Although this speech happens around the same time of year as the American State...
Under Japan’s original 1889 constitution, all sovereign power rested in the person of the Emperor. He was the head of the Japanese Empire, “combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty,” an authority inherited through...
This year, I celebrated my fourth Christmas since moving to Japan. For a country that has a Buddhist and Shinto rather than a Christian core, I have to admit that they do a fairly good job with the trappings of the...
Earlier this month, my wife and I decided to watch “Best Artist 2022,” a music special broadcast on Nippon TV (日テレ). It was presumably a compilation of the year’s best songs, but you know kids these days and their music...
As we approach the fourth year of this *!&$# pandemic, it’s a good time to start asking how we are going to get out of it. The vaccines and medicines, while a step in the right direction, haven’t cured us yet. I still...
Japan is famously known as one of the safest countries on earth. Nobody gives a second thought to walking alone early in the morning or late at night, whether man, woman, or youngster. I read about an experiment a few...
Tim Odagiri
