A Giant in Japan

I've said it before that in Japan I have to duck to successfully clear thresholds. What I haven’t said is how significant this ducking needs to be. Last week I was sitting on the couch, doing nothing much. At some point I rose, took my phone to hand, began thumbing away a text, and began the necessary looking down at my phone so as to thumb it correctly. (What this means is my neck and head were...

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The sensei, the school, and the bitter cucumber.

It’s 4pm, school has finished, but the staff room is ever abuzz with teachers. To my left, Aizumi sensei graces a trio of sweat-smeared colleagues with two rigorously sweeping hand fans. On my right, Akubara sensei works the tape measure to see how, in millimetres, his height compares to mine. And in front of me, the vice principal stamps my work log before writing in the comment box, “Hot Matt!”...

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I Encountered a Sparrow Bee

"The stranger that greeted me today had three eyes, two antennae, six legs, and a buzz whose pitch caused the whole air to stop." Is that a sinister enough opening for this retelling? How about this: "I was exiting my car, finding the keychain button to lock it, and gazing with pride at my perfectly calibrated reversed parking manoeuvre when, suddenly, I saw movement…" Okay, whatever, on...

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