Karoushi

Good morning everyone. I’m writing this at 5am, but I’ll leave the ‘why’ until later, and start at the beginning. I was going to continue the ‘day in the life of’ by writing about my trip home, but there’re other things to tell. There’s a well-known disease (do they call it that? – well, it’s… Continue reading Karoushi

Published
Categorized as Japan

Night of Sevens

After the show it was time for some games to demonstrate how good we were as couples. For each game a number was drawn out of a box and the respective couple was brought out on stage to undergo rigorous questioning about each other, or to perform some embarrassing physical act, the peak being actually… Continue reading Night of Sevens

Overwork

I didn’t want to tell her, or anyone else, what I feared – that I was on the edge of a major breakdown. Many Japanese businessmen die each year from karoushi, a disease, if I can call it that, which translates literally as ‘excessive work death.’ There’s usually no warning – like a horse that’s… Continue reading Overwork

Fashion

Catching the train back to town on the second afternoon, I noticed a lone schoolgirl fixing her socks. She was probably coming back from bukatsu which ran the entire year, even through the week of public holidays. She was wearing ruusu sokusu, or ‘loose socks,’ which are long white socks with all the elastic plucked… Continue reading Fashion

School

“It’s the best reward a teacher can have, when one of her students comes back.” Her eyes were teary as she spoke. “And you’ve come such a long way.” “Actually, I’ve only come from Kobe.” I told her about the job and my new life. “So much has changed. Especially here, ” I said, looking… Continue reading School

Reverse Culture Shock

“G’day mate,” said JP. “Welcome home.” Home. Really? I looked around. This unfamiliar house could have been anywhere. “Hi. It’s good to be back.” The words were a formality. I wasn’t ‘back’ at all. That night they held a barbecue and invited a few friends around. I felt strange to be sitting in conversation a… Continue reading Reverse Culture Shock

Novelty

It has to do with the fact that gaijin are still a novelty in Japan. It’s normal for kids on the street to start calling out when they see a Caucasian. “gaijin da. haroo. haroo. zisu izu a pen.” It’s a gaijin. Hello. Hello. This is a pen. The last is the first full sentence… Continue reading Novelty

New Year

Once inside the temple, we followed the line of people around to cleanse ourselves at a carved stone trough. I watched my host family carefully then copied them, picking up a long handled ladle and filling it from the stream flowing into the trough. After pouring a little over each hand, I took a sip… Continue reading New Year

Working Holidays

Happy New Year to all!! What a fizzer. Still I expected as much… well, maybe not quite so globally. We actually had someone here dragging out a PC they’d saved for the occasion, and running it in DOS mode just to have something to shout ‘it FAILED’ about. I checked out of the hotel this… Continue reading Working Holidays

Published
Categorized as Japan