Gifu City, My Nearest Civilization

Juan Kaneshiro and me, and the main stretch of Gifu City, just in front of the JR train station. 

Inuyama Day Trip

EMA - VOTIVE PLAQUES At most shrines, one often finds a stand with hundreds of small wooden plaques attached to it. These votive plaques, sold at the Shrine, are called ema. Worshippers buy the plaque, write their wish on it, then hang it on the ema stand, in hopes the shrine deity will grant their wish. All types of wishes are made -- couples hoping to have children, students hoping to pass school exams, and people looking for true love.
I haven't bought an ema yet, but mostly because I wasn't sure what they were. There's plenty of wishes I'd like to make...

Beautiful Kyoto

Cranes and Wishes

Coming of Age Day Flirting

Red Passage, Kyoto

The Cold, the Freezing Cold!

Its not really that cold. People say it gets cold here in the "heart" of Japan. But compared to Boston, outside here hasn't gotten so bad yet. The difference between the cold here and there is that here there is no heat indoors, and no clothes dryers. As I sit here typing this at my kitchen table - my computer is on the kitchen table because I have closed off the other rooms to conserve heat - my breath dances in front of me in steamy white cloud. In fact, this morning I was blessed with more time to ponder life in Japan as I took my clothes in from my small porch where I had left them to dry the day before. This morning was so special because I opened the porch door to see everything covered in a few inches of bright white snow - even my work clothes for today! As I brought them inside to hang up to dry again, I came to the conclusion that life without a dryer is good - it conserves energy and is more natural - that is, if you live on a Caribbean Island!!!

An Old Outdoor Mannequin in my Neighborhood

My Genki Children

Tuesdays: 75 little 5 year olds - so cute! They're showing off their Winnie the Pooh Christmas coloring papers. Good job kids!

Saying Yes to Japan

Saying Yes to Japan is a new book by Carl Kay and Tim Clark. It was reviewed in this month's edition of Japanzine Japan's National English Language magazine. The review says the book is different. I started reading it a couple days ago and I have to agree. It looks at Japan's most serious problems, inefficiencies in the service economy, and proposes practical solutions with real-life anecdotes of people trying to change the system through their own business proposals and innovations. I guess it has to do with what I was saying about identifying problems, and knowing where and how you can change them. The authors are right, there is a lot of room for change in the service sector of Japan's economy. Furthermore, I think there's a lot of room for change in Japan's education sector. Before I get into that, I will recommend this book for anyone interested in Japan and economics.