Consideration For Others is the Key — Things Not to Do in Japan 1. Pour your own drink. If you are eating alone, it’s fine. But if you are with other people, pouring your own drink can make you look like a drunkard. Etiquette requires that we pour each other’s drinks. 2. Pass food from one to another using chopsticks or stick your chopsticks into rice. At Japanese cremations, after the body is burned, the loved one’s bones are passed using chopsticks, one…

Are those little ones really “old enough” to run errands? — Perhaps you have been charmed, like me, by Netflix’s recent show, “Old Enough,” called “My First Errand” in Japanese, a show already popular for 30 years in Japan. Although clearly staged, with its not-so-hidden cameramen, I think it speaks to the inherent honesty and collectivist culture of the Japanese that…

Was all that sacrifice really worth it? — I recently read an article from a woman who claims she would regret having children for all the fun she would have to give up. That gave me pause to reflect. I do not regret motherhood I have made many mistakes in my life, but one thing I do not regret is having 8 children. …

Beauty and History are Everywhere in Japan — Growing up in northern Virginia, my life revolved around my Catholic school and the Fort Myers’ Officers’ swimming pool. When I tired of swimming on long summer days, I would walk under big shady trees through the old section of Arlington National Cemetery. Each unique 19th century gravestone held such…

Where owning a gun is a privilege, not a right — Gun ownership is a topic fraught with controversy, particularly in the US. In Japan, we have fewer issues. Owning a gun — or katana, for that matter — is a highly regulated privilege very few people desire. Of the approximately 125,700,000 Japanese population in 2020, around 200,000 citizens had firearms…

How are the mighty fallen! — Fujiwara Hirotsugu was a member of the powerful Fujiwara clan. This family influenced and manipulated emperors from behind the scenes for over three centuries during the Nara and Heian eras (710–1185). Background on the insurrection Starting in the 7th century, Japan’s imperial court sent missions to Chang’an, the capital of Tang Dynasty China, to…

Ghosts — love them or hate them, no one wants to live with them — There has long been a belief in ghosts and supernatural beings in Japan. You may be familiar with Japan’s Three Great Vengeful Ghosts — Taira no Masakado, Emperor Sutoku, and Sugawara no Michizane — but today’s story is a bit more personal. It all started with a knock on our…

Banishing myths by looking at the greatest samurai battle in history — Samurai — many people imagine these romantic, stoic, and fierce armor-clad warriors to have been bound by a strict moral code of discipline, dedication, and loyalty to death. Is this myth or reality — or a mix of both? Samurai Samurai made up the warrior class during Japan’s 700 year feudal…

The ancient story behind an everyday expression — According to the 9th-century Chinese history, Rekidaimeigaki, 歴代名画記, there is an interesting story behind the four character expression used in both China and Japan, 画竜点睛. In Japanese, this is read garyōtensei, and means to put the finishing touch on something. The characters by themselves mean: 画 picture, brush stroke 竜…