We announce the end of class, stand to attention, and bow. Some with more gusto than others, some merely nodding before collapsing into their chairs again. Four girls, in a rehearsed and giggling mass, come up to the lectern. They laugh at each other, and at themselves, look at me, and in unison say 'happy …
Continue reading 義理チョコ: Obligation Chocolate and Valentine’s Day in Japan
A Japanese language teacher gifted me an おみくじ, Omikuji, from the Dazaifu Tenman-gū, a famous shinto shrine in Fukuoka, Kyushu. She sat down to explain it to me, letting me know that Omikuji is best translated as a 'Fortune Slip'. As the Dazaifu Tenman-gū is a large and famous shrine, they had English Omikuji available. She happens …
Continue reading おみくじ Omikuji: A Japanese Fortune Telling Slip
My accidental encounter with an underground Japanese hobby happened when we came to Sagami to spend a day drifting over the lake. We were taking in the burnt shades trees give off at that time of year, when we saw it. The entrance to a building over run with foliage, a squat Doraemon with waves …
