Today is a dark day for the town of Takeo. For the past few years, the mayor has been trying to reposition our little town as Take-wood (the Hollywood of Japan). Well today we went from movie scene to crime scene ( Read more... )

Last night was the Takeo Fall Festival Tug-of-War competition. Last year we won one match and lost two. This year we lost our first two games (and were eliminated). Because the mayor wasn't there this year, I was picked to be the front person in the line. That meant a lot of face time for myself when the local news crew was filming. One of the ( Read more... )

Last night was my Buck-Tick concert. It was truly an amazing show. Out of the hundreds of people there, I was definitely the only non-Japanese person. At first I felt a bit strange, but then I started to get a kick out of it. The concert started at six, so I decided I would make a full day of it in Fukuoka ( Read more... )

So for lunch they put a big chunk of mackerel on my plate, and ...... I...ate....it! What has this country done to me? I eat fish without putting up a fight. The other day I was overjoyed by the vegetables that accompanied my lunch. It was green peppers and mushrooms. The ruiner of hundreds of childhood pizzas has now become something I look ( Read more... )

Nothing better at the end of a very busy week than beer and raw fish. After the extra work I've been putting in training my kids for the speech contest, I deserve some beer (and fish?).

What the hell is going on with Mixi? After a few weeks living Mixi-free, I just got an e-mail saying I have a message. It was from some girl in Tokyo named Nana. Now this is someone who I have never talked to, or had any interaction with so far. Her message title was "Hajimemashite (Nice to meet you)." The message itself was just 電話しましょー (let' ( Read more... )

These are the two realizations I have had as of late. I have, for a month or so now, been focusing my attention on one girl in town. Things have been good, but I haven't been able to see her as much as I would like. So I took advantage of a town festival as a good time for us to get together. When I showed up to our meeting spot, she was ( Read more... )

When I was in Fukuoka with Brian, I saw a poster advertising my favorite Japanese band, Buck-Tick, coming to Fukuoka for a concert in October. I haven't had much chance to see a concert here, and this is my favorite band, so I jumped right on it. The concert is being held at the Fukuoka Civic Hall. It seems like a strange place for a concert, ( Read more... )

So I'm thinking about writing a research paper entitled "The Effects of Mixi on a Foreigner in Small Town Japan ( Read more... )

I just wanted to take a minute to sing the praises of mixi, the Japanese equivalent of MySpace. I've known about mixi for years through Japanese friends. Other than the occasional mention, I never gave it much thought. But when I discovered that my friend Brian was on the service and was able to meet some really cool people, I knew I wanted in ( Read more... )