People say driving in Japan is hectic. OK, I agree. I used to have a car. I used to get locked into James Jones-style traffic jams ("From Here to Eternity"). I used to get elbowed to the shoulder by monster trucks. I use to get ...
"I haven't lost a beat," he tells me. "He" being an old friend. The adjective is qualified by both his appearance and our years of association. He sports gray hair, wrinkles, bifocals . . . And what he has really lost is his way of life. "It's ...
The answer to the disposable chopsticks problem is now at hand. And it always has been. We should all just eat with our fingers. And I knew disposable chopsticks were a problem the minute I laid eyes on them, which was at lunch on my ...
Every time I return to the States I cannot help but feel a bit . . . evil. Evil as in . . . Wicked . . . Depraved . . . Sinful . . . Evil as in Count Dracula creeping in upon a negligee-clad ...
I suppose it had to happen some day. I am a regular sort of joe and my wife is a honey. I couldn't tie her down forever; I should have known. "I'm sorry," she tells me. "But there's just no denying true love." What makes it ...
I recently unearthed vital trivia stating that the average American will consume 35,000 cookies in his/her lifetime. There you have it — proof I am above average. And I am pleased to have such an easy way to measure myself against my countrymen. For I have ...
The season is here . . . again. As if it ever ended. I do not refer to Japanese baseball, which absorbs too much attention even through the "so-called" off months, when info-starved sports junkies suck up every bare morsel of non-news. If, for example, ...
This past fall I received an e-mail from a student traveling in France. There was a photo attached and the mail announced it would be a shot of cows eating "glass." Now that's a rare shot, I thought, and scrolled down with fair enthusiasm. ...
One way I kill time on my monotonous commutes across municipal Tokyo is to scout out the hairpieces in the strap-hanger set. It's sort of like bird-watching. Be patient, observant and sooner or later your reward will come. Like maybe a genuine, blue-suited rug-wearer, perhaps ...
On a quick trip to the United States last winter, I had my sister pull over as we sped down a country road. This road provides a convenient link to the local interstate and my family members use it almost every day. I did ...
