Living Japan

All of the books below I have read in part or whole (some I have written about) and highly recommend if you are studying Japanese literature or even the language, after all, language is culture. Joe's Top Ten Must Reads : Ki no Tsurayuki's Tosa Nikki (土佐日記) 935 Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji Translated by Royall Tyler (源氏物語) 11th century Mori Ogai's The Dancing Girl (舞姫 ) 1890 Natsume Soseki's Kokoro (心) 1914 Tanizaki Junichiro's Naomi (痴人の愛) 1924-1947 Kawabata Yasunari's Snow County (雪国) 1935-1937 Mishima Yukio's Confessions of a Mask (仮面の告白) 1948 Dazai Osamu's No Longer Human (人間失格) 1948 Oe Kenzaburo's The Catch (飼育) 1957 Murakami Haruki's A Wild Sheep Chase (羊をめぐる冒険) 1982 Supplementary Material Donald Keene: Donald Keene the godfather of Japanese literary criticism. Arguably, there is no one who has contributed more to the interpretation of Japanese literature than this man. Modern ...

Wabi_Sabi W hat a ride! The last two and a half months have been a roller coaster ride to remember. As Wabi_Sabi's drummer, I'll be wrapping up the year with a collaborative live show in Hadano (秦野) AEON mall. The performance will feature Wabi_Sabi and another up and coming jazz pianist, Jacob.  So far we have played 18 live shows, traveled over a 1000km all the way from Niigata in the west to Hamatsu in southern Shizuoka and as far north as Sendai. We stayed in hotels, campers, manga cafes, cars, you name it. We played gigs in front of 100's of people on the street, and live shows in front of empty seats. So goes the life of a performer. While there have been a lot of things I've taken  from this experience, there are two things in particular I'll write about in this post. First is my Japanese, and second is my personal growth as a foreigner in Japan. Being with Benny and Hiro on the road for days at a time has given me an opportunity to grow as an...

I was in the hospital attending to my father-in-law who, at the time, was suffering from ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). By this time, my father had lost the ability to speak and was on a life-supporting respirator machine. One morning I walked into his room to check on him and saw a panicked look on his face. I could hear wheezing from the tube providing oxygen to his lungs, and his faced started turing red. I noticed there was a nurse in the room attending to another patient, but I wasn't quite sure what to say or do so I just started speaking anything and everything I knew in Japanese. It got her attention and she quickly attend to my father by clearing out the obstruction in his breathing tube and the situation was under control. Again, I was in a hospital at midnight with my wife who had been suffering from a high fever for almost a week. In the moments before heading to the hospital she began to lose feeling in the right half of her body, and I immediately starting thinking...

*Be sure to read part I to get the whole picture. I once heard from a linguist professor, "Language is culture, and culture is language." They are intertwined so beautifully, like an intricate mandala spread out across the floor. Early humans viewed the world around them and constructed culture and language almost simultaneously based on what they valued, feared, and desired. What they valued, feared, and desired was largely impacted by their environment. If they lived in an area where natural disasters were prominent, then the language of that particular region would reflect that in a multitude of ways. Japanese is a language vastly different from English because it developed in a very different part of the world; a very simple conclusion, indeed. But what are the roots of this? I'd like to examine this below. *Please understand that this is not an academic paper, just an accumulation of many discussions I've had with friends and colleagues in conjunction with b...

Great news for all you reading my blog in Japan, my book is now available in the newly established  Japan iBookstore. ESL: A Collection of Warm-Up Activities  is an interactive textbook complete with: -12 chapters containing some of the most commonly misunderstood grammar points -over 150 review questions -a complete glossary with over 100 example sentences -Interactive animations for all grammar points -explanations for ALL review questions -video, audio, and much more

It's been a while since my last post. I have been very busy with family related business and haven't had the time to post anything for a while, my apologies. But to be honest, I really don't write unless I have something to talk about. I see many bloggers that make a point to post every week, or even every day. But most of these blogs contain a whole ton of uninteresting posts because more than likely the authors are forcing themselves to write. As the saying goes, If you don't have anything to say, then don't say anything at all. A note of caution: I will be making some broad sweeping generalizations about Japanese only because it's what I hear every time I have a conversation with a Japanese about coffee. So if you are one of the few Japanese who knows what great coffee is, this is not directed towards you. For those of you who think I am smoking crack, go ahead and leave a comment, but I ask you be respectful. Without further ado~ Today's blog top...

     For those of you who haven't had a peek at my About page, I am from the U.S. of A., and my experience of bath taking is pretty much summed up in my embarrassing childhood photos; stark-naked playing with GI-Joes.       Bath taking is generally thought of as a kid's thing to do in the U.S. In fact, it's almost a right of passage to adulthood to graduate from the bath to the shower. Not to mention, having to take a bath with mom or dad isn't exactly a family bonding experience for a 12 year old.       This is why when I came to Japan taking a public bath (温泉) wasn't exactly a relaxing a moment in heaven for me. The prospect of having to take a bath completely naked with a bunch of other dudes I don't even know (without any GI-Joes, for that matter!) wasn't my cup of tea. Needless to say, I made the leap and entered my first public bath in a small resort town in Japan.       There was only one other...

Aside from all things Japan and Apple products, reading about and discussing politics are a few of my favorite pastime activities. I am passionate about politics but I am not the type to turn an ear away simply because you affiliate yourself with a specific party. I have my opinions of course, but generally speaking, I am very open-minded when it comes to political discussions. So with that, think of this as an open-minded discussion as you are welcome to comment on the issue as well, but please, be respectful. Healthcare is one of the hot topics in U.S. politics these days. Is it constitutional? This is the number question being asked right now. While I agree this is an important question, I think an equally important question that is not being asked is: How will a universal healthcare system fit into a country that takes pride in its individuality? The healthcare debate in the U.S. is much more about social issues than it is political, for the foundational arguments on both ...

*This article addresses private sector jobs, not government sponsored jobs like the JET program. In its over 100 years of practice, the previously, highly romanticized dream job for many who held an interest in the culture and people of Japan has taken a back seat in the nose bleed section of dead-end jobs. Or has it? Starting in the late 80's to early 90's, English teaching in Japan was considered a hot job. It paid nearly twice the annual salary it does now and job security was much more stable as the business was booming at that time. It was one of, if not, the best jobs a native English speaker could get if he/she wanted to make a living in Japan with minimal effort (20-30 hours a week tops). However, as the global economy tanked, and China's economy began to grow at an exponential rate, the market began to show signs of struggling. Like the housing boom in the U.S., the market grew faster than the demand. Schools were popping up on every street corner in all ...

I had a small break between classes and caught this rare moment on camera thanks to a co-worker. Its hard to see, but if you look closely in the far distance you can see Mt. Fuji. It's a rare occasion to see it from where I'm at (Ibaraki Prefecture). Tonight it was clear and crisp allowing for such a rare sight. It really is a beautiful mountain. No wonder so much poetry has been written about it.

They say your first year is the hardest: getting used to the school; getting used to the kids; getting used to the lesson plans; and getting used to being a buffoon for the better half of your day. Not to mention, trying to get used to your life outside of teaching English. This post is more of a reflection rather than a guide to anything, but you just might find something useful, so please, read on my friend. I was doing the dishes the other day when it dawned on me (odd fact: many of life's lessons have dawned on me while doing the dished, I honestly don't know why), my English lessons have gone through a pretty noticeable progression. When I thought about it more I was able to break it down into four specific stages: 1. Introduction 2. Conflict 3. Restructuring 4. The odd couple Before I get into these stages let me outline my job so you know what I deal with on a daily basis. I teach at a private English school in Japan. I teach lesson to kids as youn...

Cover Page My new interactive iBooks Textbook for the iPad  has been approved and is currently available worldwide via iTunes. For all you ESL teachers abroad this is the perfect way to get technology into your lesson. It's quick, it explains itself, and best of all, it's recyclable material. For all you ESL learners this is a fun and interactive way to brush up your English skills. It's easy to understand and fun to learn with. Try it out by downloading a sample today. If you like it, pick up a copy and be sure to rate my book write a review. I will periodically update the book so it helps to get good feedback. ESL: A Collection of Warm-Up Activities   is an interactive textbook complete with: -12 chapters containing some of the most commonly misunderstood grammar points -over 150 review questions -a complete glossary with over 100 example sentences -Interactive animations for all grammar points -explanations for ALL review questions -video, audi...