Bowing in Japan: a how-to

In western countries, when you shake hands with someone, and the handshake you receive is weak and uncertain, the mood it gives off is something along the lines of shy or uneasy, lacking confidence and perhaps grace. And sometimes, when there’s no handshake offered at all, the air can get a bit cold. It’s rather like this in Japan, only you must remove handshakes altogether and replace them...

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The one day of the year Gotsu gets crowded

Japanese people like festivals. And I mean really like. The week just passed was called Obon. It’s a yearly, nation-wide custom of honouring one's ancestors, and a large part of this honouring takes the form of festivals. Almost every town has at least one, and the larger cities might have dozens. These involve street entertainment, food stalls, parades, lanterns floating downriver to represent...

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In a couple of years

I’ve been in Japan for 2 years (and something something days); or, as the Japanese would say, “It has become my third year.” This sounds strange in English, but perfectly fine in Japanese. Such is the headache of a direct translation. And as I learn more of the language, I’m having increasing trouble reconciling it with English. So ends the yearly update on my life in Japan. Unrelated, I...

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