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…

Sugita Genpaku — Remarkable Edo-era pioneer of human anatomy — Sugita Genpaku was born in 1733, while his father was in attendance to the Lord of Wakasa, now Fukui, at his Edo estate. Although the official physician of the Wakasa Domain, Genpaku’s father stood in helpless anguish as his wife suffered and died giving birth to her third son. He…

Wild vegetables, or sansai, play an important role in Japanese cuisine — Washoku, Japanese cuisine, is a celebration of seasonal dishes, and sansai, 山菜, wild mountain vegetables, play a starring role. Elderly folks have told me of the long-held belief that whatever foods are in season are what our bodies require at that time of year for optimum health. …

As one’s learning and skills deepen, so does one’s humility — I recently learned a new proverb, 実るほど頭を垂れる稲穂かな, Minoruhodo kōbe wo tareru inahokana, meaning, “The riper the rice, the more deeply it bows.” This was shared by the ever-interesting Kyoto Ko, author of Folk Tales of Japan. Kyota illustrated the proverb by noting that Matsushita Kōnosuke, the founder of Panasonic, carried…

But should he be? — Ashikaga Takauji, 足利尊氏, was the first shogun of the Muromachi Period (1336–1573), and along with the monk Dōkyō and Taira no Masakado, one of Japan’s Three Great Villains. I have written about Dōkyō as the First Great Villain, and Masakado in my series on Japan’s Three Great Vengeful Ghosts. …

Long-time Japan resident and bullet train fan breaks it down — The other night, my son and I watched the 2022 movie, “Bullet Train.” It’s an imaginative and fanciful tale of the Japanese mafia, an American hero — in the form of Brad Pitt, no less — and an eponymous bullet train. The movie is based on a novel written by…