My friend Sean’s grandfather is a hale and hearty 80 years old. He talks politics, walks upright, drives at night, and makes his own jam from the fruits and berries in his garden. He serves that homemade jam with his homemade bread when he sits us down for tea. What an absolutely lovely man. We […]
Narrative
Petals Falling on Still Water
It is, of course, forbidden to take a camera into an onsen. But had I been allowed, these are the images I would have snapped: The ghostly steam rising up off of the hot, jagged rocks The lacy white cherry blossom petals dotting the slender boughs, blocking out the brilliant blue sky The wet stamp […]
At the Funeral of a Baby Girl, in Japan
In the old days, the Japanese wore white clothing to funerals. Nowadays, black is the color of choice so I am perched on a small couch with a handful of other guests, wearing charcoal gray pants that don’t quite match my black work shirt. I feel a little uncomfortable about them, but I have to […]
The Mystery of the Ubiquitous and Radiant Train Station Ad Model
She’s everywhere. Serene and regal, her image stalks me from ad posters plastered all over the walls of almost every commuter train station I pass through. She’s always photographed against iconic Japanese backgrounds: a serene temple surrounded by deer and cherry blossom trees, a ryokan inn heated by the steam of a nearby hot spring. […]
Hot Lunch
The quality of my work day lunch depends on where I’m teaching. On Thursdays, I work near a seemingly endless shopping arcade and the choices are rich. I favor a steaming bowl of ika tempura udon soup, spiked with lots of spicy red pepper and black sesame seeds. For my mid-evening snack, I stroll past […]
I Am Bob
Our Visas say we’re English teachers but we’re not; not really. He’s an engineer. She’s a photographer. Him over there? He’s having a little adventure before he starts med school. Yet we’re parsing the sentences. We’re highlighting the difference between “l” and “r.” We’re wearing the suits, cracking the textbooks, bribing children into behaving by […]
Hostess Cupcake
The two year-olds have been ganging up on me lately, ever since Kazuya had the brilliant idea of asking me if class was over when it was only halfway through. Because I feigned hurt feelings, Kazuya decided this was to be our inside joke and now asks me if class is finished every 30 […]
Someone’s Knocking at the Door
You never answer the door during business hours. You never, ever answer your phone when it’s a Japanese number you don’t recognize … at least not while your Japanese is still chugging along at what feels like a snail’s pace. You’re doing the best you can. Really. You’ve passed the 4-kyuu, after all. You study […]
On the Train, from Osaka to Wakayama
I like the houses I see in the patches of countryside, between concrete shopping center strips, convenience stores, stark plots of razed dirt, and jumbled, dingy Post-War housing developments. They are the old homes, compact and white, dotted along perfectly combed fields of rice, the rows parted like hair, with mushroom-capped bonsai out front, their […]
“inside”
With the other English teachers at school, there are dinners out. With my downstairs neighbors (also fellow English teachers), there are many walks. There are SO MANY BICYCLES in Sakiio that my heart stops every few seconds – they are a menace as they constantly zip through the sidewalk they for some moronic reason share […]