Will Miss #154 - Nejinu Souvenir Shops

There is a chain of souvenir stores called Nejinu (ねじぬ) that is one of the nicest places to get souvenirs which are not cheesy or tacky. Unlike the junk they offer foreigners in places like Omotesando, the items in Nejinu are for Japanese people. They include figures for the Chinese zodiac animals, clay dishes, paper lanterns, furoshiki (clothes used to wrap packages and carry box lunches), fans,

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Won't Miss #154 - pay phone space hogs

This post was hard to name because the idea is hard to convey. Let me start by saying there are relatively few pay phones left in Tokyo at all, and I need every precious one since I don't have a cell phone. This is not the thing I have an issue with. Technology marches on and it's not Japan's fault that I refuse to join the parade. The problem is many people who have cell phones seem to think

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Will Miss #153 - adult pajama costumes

On holidays and at festivals (and sometimes during sales at shops), I see people wearing a particular type of adult pajama costume. The one in the picture above is Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, but I've seen people wearing dragons, eggplants, and other weird things. I imagine there is some company in Japan that makes this particular kind of costume which resembles a baby's sleeper. I don't know if

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Will Miss #152 - ample Indian restaurants

In the rural area I grew up in, there were no Indian restaurants at all. We had psuedo-Italian places in abundance, a Chinese place, a bit of Mexican food, and some home-style American fare. Until I came to Tokyo, I never had Indian food, but since coming to Japan, I've found I really love it. Now, there are Indian restaurants within a stone's throw of my apartment. There is an abundance of them

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Won't Miss #153 - sparse Mexican food

There are a lot of great places to eat in Tokyo, but Mexican food is sadly under-represented in the selection of ethnic food. You can get tacos which have been altered to suit Japanese tastes (for the most part) occasionally. Sometimes what are called "tacos" can be a pretty scary business. One of the last I sampled was some sort of freakish meat paste with ketchup-like sauce, cabbage, and a

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Won't Miss #152 - karaoke

When I was in elementary school, our teacher forced us to sing for a grade. This was always an exercise in torment and humiliation for me. Singing is not something I can do well, nor is it something that I attach a sense of joy to. Karaoke is often the cap on work-related social evenings which include "drinking parties" (nomi-kai) and you're seen as an anti-social party pooper for constantly

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Will Miss #151 - Japanese rice

I have spent most of my time in Japan being rather indifferent to rice in general, but over the past 4 years or so, I've grown to really like it's sticky quality and how well it goes with certain foods. I've also learned to cook it pretty well (and without a rice cooker, which I do not own). As a standalone side dish, it seems better than other types of rice.While I don't eat it at every meal, or

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Won't Miss #151 - Japanese crows

A crow uses the water meant for purification rituals near an altar to get a drink.There are crows pretty much everywhere, but the Japanese crows are a special breed in many ways. First of all, they are huge. Second, they are not shy about being around humans. In fact, they attack people. There are sometimes videos on television that show crows swooping in and using their huge beaks to jab people

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Will Miss #150 - different movie names

One of the more interesting aspects of life in Japan is seeing how Western movies have had their names changed to make their themes more clearly understood. More often than not, the name change is pretty straightforward like "Ratatouille" was changed to "Remy's Restaurant". Sometimes, they're a little less direct and strip the nuances from the title like "As Good As It Gets" becomes "A Romance

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Won't Miss #150 - one correct answer

One of my students took an ethics course at an American college and she told me that she really hated the class. The reason she hated it was that the class required a person to think through all sides of an issue and choose a particular viewpoint. She said she was uncomfortable with this because she liked the answers to be concrete and for there to be one "right" reply that she could offer. This

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Will Miss #149 - cheap cable

My cable television provider's local office. Cable television in Japan varies in price, but the longer your building has cable, the cheaper it becomes. My monthly rate is now 2600 yen ($28) a month. I've heard various rates from friends and family in various areas in the U.S. and that price is quite cheap compared to what they pay. It's especially good for an urban area. Mind you, if your

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Won't Miss #149 - limited job options

People who read and speak Japanese well will tell you that the sky is the limit when it comes to jobs in Japan, but that is simply not so. The truth is that there are two problems with being a foreigner and seeking certain job opportunities. First of all, most Japanese businesses that offer conventional jobs only hire foreigners when there is a concrete incentive to do so. They won't hire you if

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Will Miss #148 - yukata

In the summer, Japanese people sometimes wear a light robe made of cotton. It's often worn to festivals, but people also wear them casually. They're comfortable and quite cheap. You can buy them for nearly every size person from children to somewhat hefty adults. Sumo wrestlers can be seen wearing them around Ryogoku, where the national stadium is located.I'll miss seeing and having access to

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Won't Miss #148 - bad and expensive bagels

Japanese bakers seem to believe that a bagel is simply a type of bread shaped like a doughnut. Most bagels in Tokyo suffer from a variety of problems including being too dense, too dry, or too fluffy. It's very, very rare to find an authentic, chewy bagel. What is more, even the bad bagels are relatively expensive. Getting a properly made bagel is something you have to research and travel far

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Will Miss #147 - Yutakaraya

There's a discount fresh food shop chain called Yutakaraya about 10 minutes from my apartment. It's often crowded with old people or housewives and a pain to navigate because people block the narrow aisles, but there's something very gratifying about going there and finding chicken on sale for 29 yen (31 cents) per 100 grams (3.5 oz.) or a bag of 6 carrots for 50 yen (85 cents). It's much, much

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Won't Miss #147 - loveless Valentine's

I realize that a lot of people hate Valentine's Day and think it's already a Hallmark holiday designed to sell candy. I'll grant that confectioners have exploited it for all it is worth. That being said, people who choose to use it as a day to celebrate their love can do so because at the heart of the holiday (no pun intended) is romance. There is some meaning if you want to find it there. In

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Will Miss #146 - Shinjuku

My favorite place in Tokyo is Shinjuku. It is a district which isn't far from my home and has more of a modern feel to it than other similarly set-up areas. I worked there for about 10 years and always enjoyed walking around and exploring when I was there. To me, it's got everything you might want in one vast place including big electronics shops, department stores, bakeries, import shops,

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Won't Miss #146 - big biters

There are a lot of food programs and commercials on Japanese T.V. and most of the time the people who sample the food seem to think they have to eat as much in one bite as they can cram into their faces. More often than not when I see food being eaten on T.V., people look like chipmunks with gigantic nuts stored in their cheeks and labor to chew and continue to speak at the same time. I don't

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Will Miss #145 - Family Mart

It may not look like much from the outside, but I always enjoy going to Family Mart convenience stores ("conbini") more than the other chains. The ones in my neighborhood are bigger, more frequently remodeled and cleaner, and they carry a lot of the best new products compared to their competitors. If I want to find interesting new sembei, the latest Tirol chocolates, weird KitKats, or strange new

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Won't Miss #145 - gobbing and spitting in public

I've heard that China has one of the worst problems with public spitting and that Japan's expectorating populace pales in comparison. That being said, they are leaps ahead of what I was accustomed to in terms of public gobbing and spitting when I grew up in the U.S. Public spitting isn't super, super common in Tokyo, but it is far from rare. Both men and women do it, so it's not one of those

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Will Miss #144 - Crunky

One of my fellow food review bloggers once said something about Crunky possibly meaning "crunchy" and "funky". The truth is that I'm not sure how the name came about, but I liked his thinking. I've always thought of Crunky as a weird form of "crunchy" since the Crunky family of candy is based on malt puffs. Some people really go for Crunky and some don't like the flavor of it's crispy puffs. I'm

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Won't Miss #144 - cleaning out the drain trap

Most Japanese apartments do not have garbage disposals. This in and of itself is not a problem for me as I grew up without the benefit of one. However, the plug/drain trap in sinks back home were stainless steel and small. They were easy to clean and empty after washing dishes by hand and finding food bits collected in them. In Japan, the traps are usually made out of plastic (and there is no

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Will Miss #143 - making up on trains

Japanese people will tell you that they don't like to see women putting their makeup on when they ride the trains and that it is bad manners. The thing is that it not only doesn't bother me, but I get a kick out of it for several reasons. First of all, there is a certain amount of risk undertaken when you put objects near your eyes on a moving train. Second, it requires some pretty spiffy

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Won't Miss #143 - restaurant squatters

This may be an issue in cities around the world, but it's something I never encountered until I came to Tokyo. People will buy one drink at a coffee shop, fast food place, or restaurant and occupy a space for hours (literally). I can't say for certain, but I'm guessing this is one of the reasons that drinks are so expensive in general. They know people are going to do this so they want to make a

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Will Miss #142 - mild winters

Japan has a humid subtropical climate, but some northern areas do have abundant snow and very cold winters. Tokyo, however, does not have much of a true winter season at all. Since coming here about 20 years ago, I've probably seen 4 days of (appreciable) snow at most in any given winter. Most of the time, there are a few days or no days with snow at all and heavy winter clothing is not necessary

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Won't Miss #142 - communicative "insecurity"

Part of my former office job was doing brief telephone lessons with students from all over Japan. In a very "light" year, I spoke to 500 students, but in a "heavy" year, I would speak to closer to 900. I was at that job for 12 years so it's no exaggeration to say that I have spoken to literally thousands of Japanese people in many populated areas. I can add the experience of hundreds of

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Will Miss #141 - fukubukuro

On New Year's Day, many shops sell fukubukuro uniquely tailored to represent their stores' goods. This is often literally translated as a "lucky bag" or "happy bag", but it's better called a "grab bag". Shopkeepers compile an assortment of goods and set a price that (at least supposedly) is cheaper than the value of the goods.Though these bags are sometimes hit and miss on being worth the price,

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Won't Miss #141 - Japanese wieners

Back home, I rarely ate sausage or hot dogs. In Japan, sometimes it's a little hard to avoid incidental use of "sausage" or, as they are often called "wieners". They're often used as part of pizzas, gratin, or other dishes. There is a distinct flavor to Japanese wieners (and no double entendre is intended there, my dirtier-minded readers) which I find very off-putting as do some other foreign

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Will Miss #140 - unicycles

One thing you notice in summer in Tokyo is that there are far more kids, especially girls, riding unicycles. It's quite impressive to see their balance and speed on them. I've been told that elementary school kids, and girls in particular, join unicycle clubs or teams. I'm not sure why unicycles are relatively common in Japan, but it is always interesting to see as one tends only to see acrobats

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Won't Miss #140 - gropers

Click the image above to load one which is readable.During my early years in Japan, when I was still young enough to be of interest to random men, I was riding an escalator down into a basement store to meet my husband. A man walked down the escalator behind me and touched my ass. I assumed at first that he had accidentally bumped into me after walking a step too far so I moved forward, and then

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Will Miss #139 - Pearl Center

In my neighborhood, there is a long and winding street full of different shops that snakes from a major street near my apartment to the local JR station. I've never counted them all, but I'm sure there are over 100. The variety of places is amazing, but more importantly, there is a good mix of low-priced food shops and interesting specialty shops. You can do all of your daily shopping and pick up

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Japan Times profile of this blog

This comes under the heading of "shameless self-promotion". The Japan Times interviewed me and has published a profile of me and both of my blogs (both this one and my snack reviews blog). If you're interested, you can read it on the Japan Times web site here.

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Won't Miss #139 - expensive, tiny Halloween pumpkins

I'm not crazy over Halloween, but I do like to make a jack-o-lantern for the holiday because the warm glow of a candle inside one of those big, round squashes is a thing of beauty. It's also simply an enjoyable seasonal craft. The last pumpkin that I carved in Japan was about 5 inches (12 cm) in size and was so small that a tea candle put inside of it burnt the cap within a minute of lighting the

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Will Miss #138 - Choco Cro

Choco Cro is a chain shop which sells baked goods and beverages with the main product being croissants filled with chocolate (hence "choco cro"). I've read that these are the closest one can come in Japan to pain au chocolat from France, and, in fact, that some Europeans consider these Japanese treats to be superior to the ones you can get in their country of origin. The ChocoCro croissants are

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Won't Miss #138 - no one taking responsibility

Back when I was working in a Japanese office, we had continuous difficulties with things that were not getting done because the person who should look after that particular duty was not exactly specified. There were plenty of ridiculously obvious problems that could be solved in a short time with almost no effort that would be ignored because no one was willing to just do it without some sort of

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Will Miss #137 - Yaki Imo Men

One of my earliest experiences with Japanese cart food was hearing a recording of someone half singing the words "yaki imo" (roasted sweet potato) as a man in a cart roamed my neighborhood. I'd have my husband run out and flag down the yaki imo man and he'd buy me a fresh, perfectly cooked over wood chips sweet potato. The experience of buying one of these potatoes right from the men themselves

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Won't Miss #137 - kiddy seats on bikes

One of the amazing things you see in Japan are bicycles with the equivalent of a baby seat attached to the front and/or back. What is more surprising is the way you see mothers (and on rare occasions, fathers) lurching or speeding around with their kids plopped into them. They are often helmet-less and not strapped in. If the mother were to lose her balance or have an accident, the kid could

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Will Miss #136 - New Year's Ema

Several years ago, my husband and I started visiting the local shrine on the morning of New Year's day. There are always prayer boards or "ema" on sale so that people can write their wishes for the coming year and hang them in the appropriate places at the shrines. These wooden plaques show the animal for the current year according to the Chinese zodiac. You're supposed to write you wish and

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Won't Miss #136 - view of the homeless

I'm not going to assert that the homeless are treated or regarded well in any culture, but most people in Western countries tend to view them with some level of compassion and there are many programs to help them in most cities. In Japan, the general attitude toward the homeless is quite different and programs to assist them are few and far between. They are viewed as failing to work hard enough

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Will Miss #135 - being in, but not of, the culture

Most foreign folks in Japan focus on the part where you will never fit in or be accepted because you cannot assimilate. This does have a lot of negative effects, but there is also a very positive side to being in Japan, but not of the culture. In fact, I wouldn't want to be in Japan if I had to live any other way. It's a little hard to explain because it covers so much cultural territory, but

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Won't Miss #135 - "giri choco"

On Valentine's Day, women are expected to give men chocolates. They don't give them to the men they love or even like, but rather out of obligation ("giri"). As a foreign woman, I was never expected to observe this dubious custom, but I heard plenty of complaints from women in our office who had to do it until the president finally outlawed the practice (likely out of fear of full-fledged

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Will Miss #134 - Seijin No Hi

There are quite a lot of public holidays in Japan. In fact, it's surprising that the Japanese get more random days off than Americans. Few of those national holidays carry a great deal of meaning, but "seijin no hi", which is sometimes translated as "coming of age day" or "adulthood day" is one of the few which is observed in a very visible manner. On the second Monday in January, you see a lot

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Won't Miss #134 - Suginomori

It seems that nearly everything in Japan has to have a mascot. In many cases, they are crudely drawn or poorly designed. You get the feeling that some of them were just created by someone in the office who could doodle a bit rather than by a professional artist. The ward I live in has some peculiar worm-like creature called "Suginomori". It's all over the place in my neighborhood - on signs, on

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Will Miss #133 - clean, safe, modern bus service

Buses are used far less in Tokyo than trains because of the traffic. It will usually take longer to get there by bus than subway or train, unless you're lucky about where the bus lines run. That being said, I have taken buses a fair amount in Japan and find them to be impeccably clean, safe, and modern. They're especially good as an alternative to the crowds you have to put up with when using

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Won't Miss #133 - "if you don't like it, leave"

Everyone complains. It's a fact of life that we will be unhappy about some experiences and lament about it to someone. Back home, when your boss screws you over or someone treats you badly, people may empathize, offer constructive solutions, or let you know if your response is too extreme for the situation. In Japan, other foreign people tell you to just leave if you don't like it. I don't know

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Will Miss #132 - response to peanut butter cookies

Every Christmas since buying an oven, I have made copious amounts of peanut butter cookies for my coworkers, students, and my husband's students. They are a huge hit with everyone because they are so unusual as a cookie offering in Japan (and because they are high fat and not overly sweet, which suits Japanese tastes). Back home, they're seen as pretty mundane, but they're always received with

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Won't Miss #132 - Gym expense and hassle

One of my friends lives in an expensive area of California. In fact, his rent is on par with Tokyo rents, but his health club membership is a mere $50 a month and he can go any time. My husband has a "cheap" membership in Tokyo which is $85 a month, but he can only go on weekdays between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm. If there's a national holiday on a weekday, he can't go unless he pays more. Most private

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Will Miss #131 - festival turtles

Every summer when festivals are in full swing, there are several games or vendors who have large tubs full of tiny turtles for kids to buy or win in games. While I know you can buy little turtles in pet shops nearly everywhere around the world, there is something unique about seeing large masses of them swimming around while casually strolling around a festival. They're so cute that it almost,

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Won't Miss #131 - working long, not smart or hard

We all hear again and again that the Japanese are hard workers, but the reality isn't quite what you'd expect based on the reputation. Anyone who works in a Japanese office for any length of time and learns to really understand what is going on discovers that the Japanese work long, but not necessarily smart (or hard). The emphasis is on looking busy and hanging around the office, not getting

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Will Miss # 130 - supermarket trash bin contents

The vast majority of cultural differences aren't reflected in the broad and obvious, but rather in the small and less noticeable. One of the things which is a fascinating reflection of cultural differences and priorities are the trash bins in markets. In the picture above, taken at Peacock supermarket, you can see two Special K cereal boxes. Out of context, they may appear to be expired food, but

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Won't Miss #130 - shouting from emergency vehicles

Emergency vehicles in Japan, such as ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars, are equipped with the same loud sirens and flashing lights that those back home have. For some reason, these very obvious notifications to those on the road are insufficient to get cars to pull out of the way. Every emergency vehicle that passes through also seems to feel it is necessary for someone in it to shout on a

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Will Miss #129 - Dars chocolates

If you're a regular reader of my Japanese snack blog, you may already know that Dars is my favorite Japanese consumer level chocolate. Dars is a super smooth, creamy, fatty chocolate made by Morinaga. They come is quite a few varieties (dark, white, milk, hazelnut, almond, affogato) and I haven't found a bum one in the lot. For a mere 100 yen, you can indulge in a box of high quality candy that

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Won't Miss #129 - Japanese hair salon issues

Let me start off by saying that the overall quality and experience you get in a Japanese hair salon is probably one of the best you can have in the world. Men in particular are treated to much more care than they'd ever get in a barber shop back home. That being said, for foreigners, especially women, unless they can find the right stylist, there can be problems. One of the problems is that

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Will Miss #128 - Japanized Western holiday decorations

I love pretty much all holiday decorations. I'm one of those rare breeds of people who doesn't get upset about seeing the Christmas decorations show up early because I just like to see them around for as long as possible. Seeing holiday decorations for Western holidays in Japan with some alterations to incorporate Japanese cultural elements is always pretty nifty. It's like someone has taken the

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Won't Miss #128 - no stars at night

This is absolutely a Tokyo experience, and is certainly not confined to cities in Japan, but it is something which has only happened to me while living here and has been a part of my Japan experience. All of the light pollution in Tokyo makes it impossible to see the stars at night. That means I haven't seen stars in the sky for nearly 20 years.I won't miss having the stars blotted out by the

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Will Miss #127 - rikshaws

If I'm to believe Seinfeld, some enterprising folks in New York City also have started up a system where they use rikshaw (in Japan, called "jinriksha", "jin" meaning person) to ferry tourists about the city. I can't say if there is any validity to that, but I can say that you can take them in Tokyo as a way to see parts of the city at the speed of human trotting. The men who pull the rikshaw

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Won't Miss #127 - complex trash handling rules

(Click this image to load a larger one that is of a legible size.)The trash handling rules in Japan are notorious among members of the foreign community for their fussiness and complexity. While it may seem that this is just a language or cultural problem, the rules are often baffling to Japanese people as well. Part of the reason for this is the myth that the Japanese recycle everything possible

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Will Miss #126 - "good" swastikas

In the U.S. (and many other western countries), seeing a swastika fills you with a sense of dread that someone has seen fit to use this ugly symbol of Nazism. The truth is that the swastika has been a positive symbol for thousands of years, but until I came to Japan, I never saw it used in its spiritual context. When I see the symbol here, it is always with a positive connotation. When I return

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Won't Miss #126 Clothes that don't fit right

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking this is about size and tiny Japanese women's clothes and hulking foreign women who can't squeeze their fat bodies into them. That's actually not what this is about. Even if you are a petite foreign person who can fit into Japanese sizes (which is far from a sure bet), there are other issues. One of my students works in the fashion industry and told me

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Will Miss #125 - happy marketing messages

It's very common to see messages written in English with words like "happy", "joyful", and "pleasant". There's a condom machine near our house which has the message, "for your happy family life." I'm not sure how these come across to Japanese people, but they always strike me as innocent and meant to encourage people to have a good experience in their mundane endeavors.I'll miss seeing these

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Won't Miss #125 - having my English "corrected"

When I have a conversation in English with a Japanese person, I pronounce Japanese words that are frequently pronounced differently in English in the Japanese way. For instance, I properly pronounce things like "karaoke" and "Nikon" which are said as "carry-okey" and "Nigh-con" in English. However, I say English names and words in the way they are properly spoken in English, not in some Japanized

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Will Miss #124 - Anpanman

I should be clear that I'm not referring to Anpanman goods or collectibles. I have no interest in the multitude of items marketed with his round, happy face on them. The thing I like about Anpanman is the story that goes along with the character. The idea of a superhero who weakens when he gets dirty or wet really tickles my fancy. It seems like a sneaky way of getting kids, who the character is

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Won't Miss #124 - assumed to fit the stereotype

Because I'm an American, most Japanese people believe they automatically know certain things about me:I eat beef and love hamburgers and potatoes.I have a gun.I grew up in a big house.I am not shy. I grew up around a lot of crime.The truth is that only one of those things is true of me ("4"), and I won't miss people deciding that they know me without getting to know me based on a stereotype.

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Will Miss #123 - free persimmons

Several times each winter, a student will show up at my door with a shopping bag. The bag is often full of persimmons which are being offered to me from their overflowing supply. People in Tokyo receive persimmons by the crate-load from relatives and friends all over Japan and they pass them on to me. The odd thing is that they are sent this fruit despite the fact that they grow all over the

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Won't Miss #123 - tacky tourist junk

I realize that there is tacky tourist crap everywhere in the world. The main difference to me is that I rarely see it in Japan unless I go to an area especially designed for foreign visitors who are here for a brief vacation. Going to these places feels like entering another Japan, one that is designed for easy digestion by people who expect certain things from it. These tacky tourist items are a

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Will Miss #122 - strange Pepsi flavors

Pepsi in Japan comes out with seasonal variations which are wild and weird. One of the earliest was cucumber, followed by yogurt in the form of Pepsi White then shiso and azuki. These are rarely actually good, but there is a certain appeal in the adventure and experimentation of these bizarre concoctions.I'll miss casually sampling these strange Pepsi flavors.

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Won't Miss #122 - people who don't look where they're going

This is an issue which I believe is Tokyo only, but I can't be sure. A lot (and I mean a lot) of people in Tokyo seem to go out of their way not to look at the path in front of them. It's the worst in big train stations like those in Shinjuku and Shibuya. The reason they do this is that not looking where you're going means everyone else has to do the work of avoiding you. The stress of having to

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Will Miss #121 - construction apologies/restitution

On multiple occasions, I've been given gifts for construction or maintenance work done in or near my apartment. When the landlord replaced my kitchen flooring, an action that I requested and directly benefited me, he gave us a bottle of wine to apologize for the inconvenience. When painters painted around our building, they came by beforehand to apologize and gave us hand towels as gifts. I've

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Won't Miss #121 - worrying about exchange rates

The flip-side to gaining advantage from exchange rates is that you have to always concern yourself with when to send money back. You gamble every time you decide to trek off to the bank and exchange currency that this is as low as it might go for the foreseeable future. Sometimes you find that you hit a sweet spot, and at others you find that if you had just waited a day or so longer, you'd have

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Will Miss #120 - benefitting from exchange rates

My husband and I earned less money last year than the year before that, yet we were able to send more money home to place in our long-term savings than in more profitable years. If you work in Japan, but plan to return home, favorable exchange rates can really boost your ability to save whether you make more money or not. At 87 yen to the dollar, a million yen means $11,435 dollars to send back.

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Won't Miss #120 - paper doors

My doors on a rainy day.Doors in most places are covered with paper. I'm not even talking about shoji, the well-known doors that look like window frameworks with paper. Regular doors are hollow wood or flimsy aluminum or wood frameworks with paper on them. The paper looks nice when it is very new, but you can't clean it and it gets wrinkled when it is humid. If you move to a different place and

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Will Miss #119 - diversity of friends

One of the best things for me about working in Japan is that I have not only met and gotten to know a lot of Japanese people, but also people from all over the world. I've worked with people from nearly every English-speaking country around the globe, and this has taught me that, though we may speak the same language and look similar, our cultures are certainly not the same. I've also gotten to

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Won't Miss #119 - lack of insulation

Insulation tape meant to help with the drafts coming from the corners of windows and doors.Japanese houses and apartments in Tokyo are notorious for their lack of insulation. That means that they are leaking air in both directions every season. This means you have to waste energy trying to keep the place warm or cool. You can choose to constantly run your appliances to control temperature or be

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Will Miss #118 - kabocha

Japanese pumpkin, kaboucha, is sweeter than other types of squash and has an almost potato-like texture when cooked. It's so good that you can simply bake, boil, or microwave it and eat it without any accouterments. Mind you, it's also very tasty with a little butter or soy sauce and mirin.

While I may be able to buy kaboucha in the U.S. in some Asian shops, I'll miss being able to buy it so

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Won't Miss #118 - "can you use chopsticks?"

When Japanese people don't know I've been here for a long time, they tend to ask, "can you use chopsticks?" I'm pretty sure that they don't know how condescending this question comes across as, but their lack of awareness doesn't make this question any less irritating. It is essentially like me asking a Japanese person if they can use a knife and fork properly. While it can be marginally tricky

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Will Miss #117 - embarrassment sparing

Once, during our more than 20 year stay in the same apartment, we completely blanked out on paying our rent and were more than a week late in paying it. Unlike most people these days, we still pay our rent in cash and in person to the landlord. When we failed to pay, instead of the landlord or his wife charging over and saying we were late and needed to pay, she came trotting over and said, "

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Won't Miss #117 - algae tank

During the entire duration of my stay in Japan, there has been a little shop that has a fish tank out front. Sometimes, they clean the tank and you can see the goldfish living in it. Most of the time, it's in various states of being consumed by algae. I don't know much about fish, but I have read that algae kills them. It simply makes me sad seeing the fish being taken care of improperly, and I

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Will Miss #116 - sound of the tofu cart lady

There's something very old world about the fact that people still walk around Tokyo pulling carts and selling goods. Each of them has their own unique way of calling customers out to them and the tofu cart people carry a little horn that they play in a particular way. Hearing this has a strange way of making me feel connected to humanity and the people around me, even the strangers.I'll miss

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Won't Miss #116 - misplaced irritation

Tokyo is a densely populated city full of small shops and narrow spaces. If there is a place worth getting to, someone else is probably standing in your way attempting to get there before you or attending to some other business en route. Despite this reality, I'm confronted on a regular basis with people who bash, bang, and bump into me then give me the hairy eyeball, cluck disapprovingly, or

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Will Miss # 115 - divine messes

One of my students once remarked that she felt Japanese people had "no sense of space." She said that she felt they were poor at organizing spaces and tended to stack crap everywhere. This assertion, which I have seen backed up on multiple occasions by the homes around me, flies in the face of the minimalism myth which many people who have never been to Japan (except possibly as tourists) like to

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Won't Miss #115 - Japanese potatoes

The issues I have with Japanese potatoes are three-fold. First of all, deeply flavorful, red-skinned potatoes are very rare. They may be offered in some areas, but I never see them in any of the markets in my neighborhood (and I go to 4 different markets and see numerous fruit and vegetable stands as well). Second, most of the potatoes are really small. If you're going to peel them, this makes

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Will Miss #114 - amazing parking feats

Japanese people have to go to expensive driving schools for a long period of time before they can get a license, and there are good reasons for this. The picture associated with this post shows a pretty amazing parking feat. This giant Jeep is expertly squeezed into a small parking space with about a foot to spare on one side and just inches on the other side. Only a very slender person could

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Won't Miss #114 - key money & contract renewal fees

Though it isn't always the case, you often have to pay two months of "gift" money when you first sign a contract and one to three months again every two years when you renew your contract. This is mandatory, though it can be negotiated in some cases. The money is little more than extortion and a way of extracting more money from the tenant. In some cities, this is illegal and there has been much

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Will Miss #113 - dry cleaning storage

Dry cleaners in Tokyo perform an extra service at a relatively low fee. Because many people live in such small spaces, dry cleaners will take your seasonal clothing, clean it, and keep it in storage until the proper season rolls around to use such clothing again. This saves people from things like having to keep bulky coats or quilts crammed in their valuable closet space through the summer.I'll

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Won't Miss #113 - hassling with big trash

Back when I first arrived in Japan, all trash was simply put on the street for pick-up. This had an interesting side effect where many foreign people could find furnishings for their apartment literally sitting by the side of the road. Things changed awhile back and now getting rid of big trash (sodai gomi) is a hassle. You have to call your local government office, get a quote on how much your

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Will Miss #112 - a lack of one-upmanship

For the most part, Japanese people are not overtly competitive in their daily lives. That is, they will not try to boast about their abilities or downplay your experiences or capabilities to make themselves feel smarter or more capable. If anything, they will downplay their skills to avoid looking boastful because such behavior is seen as crass in Japan and looked down upon. With many Western

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Won't Miss #112 - Japanese baseball

Let me state for clarification purposes that I don't like baseball in any country. I always associate it with boredom. That being said, Japanese baseball takes boredom to a nadir. For starters, Japanese baseball players play like fretful old ladies. They're likely to bunt with one out and a runner on first instead of letting the batter swing and hoping for a big inning. You can predict what

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Will Miss #111 - Avic electronic monsters

Every year at the local tanabata festival, Sony's Avic electronics shop sets up a very large electronic monstrosity. These monsters move and make sounds. Kids always freak out at them and people's responses to them are always interesting to watch.I'll miss seeing these electronic creatures (and wondering what they'll do next year), and watching people interact with them.

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Won't Miss #111 - my tiny apartment (the not so good)

(click this small image to see one which is a more legible size)While everything I say in the previous post about loving my apartment is true, and I will leave it with some regret, there are things I won't miss. For one, this small space has seen more stubbed, scraped and banged up toes than I can count. Even after years of learning not to take long strides, I still bash body parts on furniture

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Will Miss #110 - my tiny apartment (the good)

(This is an old picture, but I'm too lazy to take a new one.)I've lived in the same apartment during my entire 20 years in Japan. It's showing its age in the smog-coated walls, crumbling Japanese wall coverings, and aging bathroom tile. I still love it though. I love the way the space is laid out so that it feels bigger than its 250 sq. feet size and how I've gotten it "just so" with the

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Won't Miss #110 - hello, goodbye, gaijin friends

One unavoidable aspect of being a foreigner who stays in Japan for a long time is that other foreigners are almost certainly not going to be here as long as you. There's a veritable revolving door of people who you get to know, get to like (or love), and who ultimately leave for their home pastures. While it certainly is possible to keep such friendships alive over the distance, ultimately it is

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Will Miss #109 - preoccupation with U.S. politics

There was not one decoration at the festival depicting a Japanese politician, but there was a familiar American face.Being obsessed with American politics isn't a strange thing as long as you are an American. After all, what your leaders do should be of concern to you. It is more than a little strange to see people in Japan being more interested in America's leaders than their own, and to often

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Won't Miss #109 - prejudice paranoia

Some of the most valuable learning experiences that I've had in Japan haven't necessarily been happy ones, and one of them is what it feels like to be a minority that is discriminated against. I can't say that I know what it feels like to be black, Hispanic, etc. in the U.S., but at least I can say that I can empathize with being regarded as inferior or suspicious at a glance, or singled out for

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Will Miss #108 - fabulous costumes

Japan doesn't celebrate Halloween, so you don't often see people in costumes. However, on the occasion that people dress up for some sort of special appearance or celebration, the costumes almost always look great. I have never seen a Japanese person in a shabby or amateurish costume that looks like it was sewn together by their grandmothers or cobbled together from bits of painted junk that they

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Won't Miss #108 - sushi

I realize that this post makes me a gigantic heretic in the eyes of Japanophiles and foodies alike, but I don't care for sushi. I don't hate it. It doesn't make me sick and I'm not freaked out by the notion of eating raw fish. I'm simply not a big fan of it and, while I can choke some down, it doesn't do anything for me. I don't like the texture of the toppings or the smell of nori. I also just

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Will Miss #107 -gun control

The previous post aside, handguns are illegal in Japan so the chances that you're going to get shot by a disgruntled coworker are pretty much zero. No, if a pissed off former employee wants to take it out on his former compatriots, he's going to have to go for a mass stabbing instead (as that has been the trend in the past year or so). I'm going to go on the record as saying I am for gun control

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Won't Miss #107 - gun hypocrisy

Very realistic looking, but fake, guns for sale in Akihabara.The Japanese are inordinately proud of the fact that most of them don't have guns, and many erroneously believe that guns are illegal to possess. The truth is that people can and do own hunting guns, but hand guns are not allowed. Regardless, guns (and gun violence) fascinate a lot of Japanese men and this is one reason that American

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Will Miss #106 - beetles as pets

In the summer, Japanese kids and boys in particular buy big-ass beetles and keep them as pets. While I'm too old to appreciate the fun of keeping a huge bug with scary-looking pincers as a pal, I find the fact that they do this pretty cool. The appearance of the beetles and the sales of the cages they're kept in will always be imprinted in my mind as a part of summer in Japan. There's also

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Won't Miss #106 - late release of media

American entertainment media almost always lags behind in Japan. Sometimes, a movie, DVD, or T.V. show will be simultaneously released, but this is rare. While this isn't a big deal, it does mean that we're one step behind, pop culturally speaking, when talking about such frivolities with people back home and can make you feel disconnected and out of touch. It can also be a bigger problem when

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Will Miss #105 - strong sense that kids are wanted

In Japan, I have never had the sense that parents want nothing more than for their kids to grow up and get out of the house so they can get on with their lives. Many American parents seem to have a lot of ambivalence about their children and the way in which having them takes away their freedom personally and economically. While I'm sure some Japanese parents feel this way, too, as a society, I

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Won't Miss #105 - overpackaging

Despite my appreciation (in the previous post) of the convenient packaging in Japan, I feel very guilty about buying things which are individually wrapped. This is often especially true for things for which it appears unnecessary. For instance, do some types of sembei really need to be individually wrapped? It feels a lot like putting 5 Pringles chips in stacks and wrapping them in plastic.

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Will Miss #104 - convenient packaging

Rice being sold in a 200 gram (7 oz.) package that can be snapped in half for 100 gram (3.5 oz.) servings.Most things in Japan are packaged with the customers' convenience and lifestyle preferences in mind rather than efficiency. This is handy if you're the type of person who prefers to eat things in small portions or takes a long time to use something up. Often cookies come individually wrapped

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Won't Miss # 104 - spice and salt caking

Because of the long, humid summer and generous amounts of rain in Tokyo, I always have problems with spices and salt caking into lumps. While I keep most of my spices in the refrigerator, I simply do not have the space to keep everything in it and the result is having to whack the counter with the jars to try and break up the inevitable bricks that form. What makes it worse is the fact that

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Will Miss #103 - neighborhood mystery house

Within a 1 minute walk of my apartment, there is a huge house with a large accompanying garden which is surrounded by 5-foot walls topped with barbed wire and masked by trees. The entryways are boarded over or gated and you can see lots of mirrors, floodlights, and even security cameras behind the trees. I never see anyone coming or going (though I don't really keep tabs on it), but I know

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Won't Miss #103 - nose pickers on trains

Let me make one thing clear. People around the world pick their noses. In America, you see people do it in their cars. Honestly, I can accept that people pick their noses and if you want to sit in your vehicle and get into your nasal cavities up to the second knuckle, it's not my problem. That being said, when people (actually, men) sit on public transport and perform deep excavations, it becomes

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Will Miss #102 - Calpis

When I first arrived in Japan, one of the things which provided a chuckle was the existence of a drink named "Calpis". Since it sounds like "cow piss" when you say it, it tickles the part of your funny bone which can still enjoy juvenile humor. The truth is that this is not a case of funny Japanese product naming, but rather a combination "Calcium" and the sanskirt word "Sarpis". Nonetheless, the

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Won't Miss #102 - angry and rude old people

Something is happening with old people in Japan and it's being reflected in increasing numbers of social problems related to them. They are committing more crimes and becoming more aggressive over incidental things (like improperly sorted trash or unavoidable noise). Over the 20 years I've been in the same neighborhood, I've noticed a marked increase in rude and angry old people. I was attacked (

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Will Miss #101 - smell of charcoal grilling

About a three-minute walk from my apartment, there's a dingy little restaurant which uses buckets of red hot coals to cook its food. In the evening, when they are in full service mode, these buckets are sitting outside full of glowing coals and the air is filled with the heavenly scent of grilled food which is made with them. The smell is distinctive and extremely enticing.I'll miss the lovely

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Won't Miss #101 - "the gaijin bubble"

Note: actual gaijin bubble not pictured. This is a model that was displayed on the Fukutoshin line (and I have no idea what it is).People like to talk about what they call "the gaijin bubble" and the fact that they believe some (or many) foreigners in Japan live in one. The premise is that, if you live in Japan but are not inhaling Japanese culture through every pore and have any desire to enjoy

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