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(Original picture courtesy of Justin) This is dedicated to a fun, 3 hour hike in the rain with Justin and Taro, followed by a night of kushikatsu, drinking, karaoke, and onsening in Nara.

Ponpoko pon no pon is the onomotopoetic Japanese expression of how tanuki move. When I saw one running, I was impressed by the accuracy of which ponpoko pon no pon captures their wobbly gait. Known erroneously as a “badger” or “raccoon” and more accurately as a “raccoon-dog”, Tanuki is the only word that fits this … Continue reading »

It sucks to see pets being crammed together like this, warmed like chicken karaage under intense heat lamps. Unfortunately, pet stores like this seem to be pretty successful. There are some humane society-like organizations, but they are not nearly as big or powerful as they are back in the states. Only in places like Ashiya … Continue reading »

I’m not writing about anything especially interesting or though provoking. This is simply about an average day in the office over here. It?s one degree outside. That?s what the screen on the wall-mounted air conditioner reads, but it doesn?t feel that bad once I get in the shower. Letting it run for 5 minutes makes … Continue reading »

A wolf preying upon an obatallion.

The red circle is the sun goddess Amaterasu. It is the rising sun on the Japanese flag. It is Zen. It is an amazupai umeboshi. It is beautiful in its simplicity. Sadly, it is no longer used by Japan Airlines. Back when airplane food truly sucked, when they still handed out packs of honey-roasted peanuts … Continue reading »

What can these mats really do make sure that avian influenza doesn’t enter the country? I think they’re there just to make everyone feel better, kind of like making people wait two hours to pass through security when you go to LAX makes us feel safer. Because they’re special mats! When you return overseas to … Continue reading »