Victory Manual

Sakai Junko’s essay 電車の中で若者に注意 got me to thinking about “generation gaps” as “foreign culture”.
In the essay, Ms. Sakai rants about a few episodes where young people should have been admonished for their inconsiderate behavior. In one example, she highlights two young men riding a bullet train watching TV on a cell phone sans headphones. [...]

As a foreigner in Japan who currently teaches English, it’s impossible to avoid having an opinion on a policy of mandatory second-language education. Deas from rockinginhakata.com commented on bilingualism (particularly of English and Spanish in the States), but I want to take one step back, towards second-language education in a general scope.
In terms of [...]

This is a thought that just occured to me, but it seems that an increase in crime has a direct correlation with materialism in society. People want stuff, and to get stuff you need cash.
With an increasingly short attention span, thanks to the influence of things like music videos where any given scene is [...]

For lack of anything really interesting to write about at the minute, I’ll write 8 factoids about myself since it has been demanded of me by Deas. I should warn you, though, that on the Japanese magnitude scale of “interesting” I register at “not very”. Most people don’t read these things, anyways.
1. [...]

I was about to hop in the shower about 30 minutes ago when the ground began to quake again. Once again, the telltale alarm of the wine glasses clinking together started up.
It was a pretty big shake, so I turned on the news as soon as it stopped (I had my daughter in my [...]

Dear Pacific-right-siders and others interested in our humble existence,
We recently acquired a tool that enables us to document images and sound. We’ve put the mechanism through a series of tests and would like to share a few of the results with you here.

I created a new dish this evening: Sun-dried tomato and gnocchi [...]

I know all of our family and friends out there are in dire need of some LL (Lani Lee) pictures and videos. But here’s the thing - Our cameras have been exceptionally nonfunctional since our big international move.
We’re going to get a new one. I’m not just saying that. We’ve been down [...]

The over-pious think that unbelievers are in the dark, and the over-skeptical think that believers are misguided. Neither is right.

The first tremors began to hit around 12:30 am, just as I was about to go to sleep last night. The clinking sound of wine glasses was the first sign, then the rolling sensation. The first round lasted about 20 seconds.
Five minutes later came some more shaking. Not as big as the [...]

The solution to Japanese farmers’ bind of not selling any rice because of its high cost is simply to not grow any rice at all! With protectionist policies, they could make a fortune out of growing nothing!
“His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government [...]