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84 in the suburbs
Arab Strap’s Philophobia, a musical compulsion of mine when I’m feeling sweaty on a summer evening, is a slow march of dreamy humid angst. Tonight I’m not quite lonely, more alone, and through the open...
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Go, go, go beyond, go thoroughly beyond
Friday morning. I arrive at my teacher’s house and instead of her normal calm welcome, she greets me flustered and looking a little disheveled. She apologizes profusely and tells me she has to go do...
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Margaritas in Omotesando
Saturday night, sporadically rainy, I take the train to Shibuya and then to Omotesando to meet an American friend at El Torito. She has promised me margaritas. Some oshaberi (chat) and booze is pretty...
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Typhoon preparation
Friday night: A typhoon is headed my way. It should arrive Sunday. So freaking exciting. I have my typhoon kit prepared: half a leftover pizza, a half-bottle of good sake, watching the Nagoya sumo...
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Typhoon Jaunty
Last night on the news I watched people be interviewed about the flooding near their homes because of the typhoon. I don’t know if I am imagining this, but I watched a woman show exactly how high the...
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Carpal Tunnel and the Dustbunnies
The typhoon came and went, there was some tragedy, some destruction: 4 people died and about 70 were injured, and there was quite a lot of property damage. The news showed a smashed house that had...
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Earthquake
Our perceived world is a boat, floating in an ocean of magma. Here near Yokohama, I didn’t even feel the big earthquake near Niigata when it happened this morning. The TV news is full of pictures of...
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Suburban god walking: Minatogaoka mikoshi
A mikoshi is a sacred palanquin in which the local kami (god) is transported. So, today, through the banal suburban streets of Minatogaoka (our little development), a mikoshi was rocked and rolled...
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August, you hot bitch
82 degrees at 7:30 PM, and I decide to lace up my newly optimistic sneakers and take a walk around the streets of suburbia. I drop off a borrowed book at a friend’s house and receive a scarf made by...
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Mottainai
Mottainai means “don’t be wasteful.” It’s one of those folksy sayings that reverberates through Japanese culture. All cultures have some similar concept, but it seems that in the developed world—the...
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Let’s get this party started
A yukata is a summer kimono which requires little pomp and circumstance to wear. Whereas putting on a formal kimono can sometimes require assistance (particularly to tie the obi), a yukata is easy and...
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Bonbori Matsuri in Kamakura
Warm summer evening, Shinto shrine with assistants handing out slips of paper telling your fortune (for a small fee), hundreds of washi paper lanterns created by amateur and professional artists, a...
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“Beautiful fragrant flower” is the name of (a) my favorite junmai ginjo sake...
Well, crap, Typhoon Fitow is a-fixin’ to pass right over us in this here Kanto plain. I decided to cook the pork loin I had in the fridge and make rice. There is absolutely no chance I will starve, but...
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A parade of red and black backpacks
Woke up this morning thinking I heard the snapping of a tree, and instead awoke to a muggy, overcast, almost still morning. Seeing the pile of garbage bags in the collection area, I see everyone still...
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Kotooshu’s Summer Soup
It’s still hot and muggy here on Ye Olde Kanto Plain, although this evening, finally, we had a break and a breeze. His Royal Highness and Naval Officer (pro tempore), Prince Charles Julius of...
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If you need a root canal, Sheldon’s your man…
Yogurt recommendation? Trust a Bulgarian. Co-op brand plain yogurt. The label says it includes Acidophilus Bifidus. It tastes sharp and tart and creamy over the tongue. A bit too soft textured for my...
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Brown paper packages tied up with strings
Yes, yes, you know how the song goes. Gah, warm October day, out with my friend Eriko to see the secret farmers’ stands of Hayama. Yes, secret, you go past the housing development, down the side...
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I’m a fan
Saturday, October 6th was the Yokohama Octoberfest, International Food Festival, and a city-wide Jazz Festival. The Jazz Fest consisted of various bands playing at outdoor spaces throughout the...
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A Ta Gueule
For our anniversary dinner, we decided we wanted something meaty, non-Asian, and special. We found a review of the “French-Belgian” A Ta Gueule at the Tokyo Food Page: “This tiny (12-seat) hideaway...
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Yokosuka Mikoshi Parade
I wrote about the mikoshi that bucked and bounced by my house this summer. October 21st there was an entire parade of them down the main street of Yokosuka.
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