Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Jul 17, 2023
Figuring out the rules at a Japanese community pool can be an ongoing education
If you’re headed for the community pool, be prepared: Japanese pool rules are an ongoing education.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Nov 13, 2022
Shichi-go-san: Take the picture, skip the ceremony
Celebrating your offspring or just getting hitched? Create fake memories with real photographs.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA May 1, 2022
Can my 6-year-old measure up to the toddlers they have on 'Old Enough!'?
A father waits by the window as his daughter sets out on an adventure to buy croissants. At the age of 6, is she "old enough" for this responsibility?
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Sep 20, 2021
You never know who you’ll run into at the public bath
Your local tattooed thugs, the old woman who is just a little bit too much in your business, who else will you meet at the neighborhood bathhouse?
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA May 3, 2021
Moving house in a pandemic: Meeting the neighbors and readying your child for their 'playground debut'
In the final entry of a three-part series on moving house during the pandemic, our writer masks up to meet the neighbors.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Apr 19, 2021
Moving house in a pandemic: The move isn’t the hardest part, the packing is
Moving into a new home doesn’t have to be stressful if you get help. What comes before and after that is tough enough.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Apr 5, 2021
Moving house in a pandemic: As our 6-year-old got older, we realized it was time for an upgrade
In the first of a three-part series, our writer outlines the twists and turns his family encountered when they opted to look for a new place to live.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Apr 27, 2020
On the run: Taking up the world's new hobby
If you don't have a dog to walk, running gets you outside for some fresh air and helps keep your health up at a time when we all need to be healthy.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Mar 22, 2020
The bright side of a potential quarantine
These days, I find myself singing “Happy Birthday” several times between daybreak and bedtime. As the next birthday in our family is weeks away, I feel a bit silly about it, even though I mostly confine the singing to my head. Since I am ...
Voices | Fiction Dec 26, 2019
Christmas on Happy Road: The Passion of the Franz
Chapter 4 Hina had made her husband, Franz, agree with her that his parents, who were visiting from Germany, might expect more from their first trip to Japan than hanging around Happy Road Oyamadai. They were going through their options. "I will not take them ...