I quite often hear the phrase "Japan never changes" however given it is the only country in history to completely eradicate the gun (they're let few back in now before you say it), Samurai no longer practice sword skills on the occasional unlucky passing peasant and voyagers are allowed on their way without being crucified, this is something of a stretch. Japan has changed significantly, and that includes the modern iteration as much as anything in past history. So, in reality, Japan is actually in a constant state of flux, and when you look closely, you can see these morphisms in action. In 1 ..read more

In 1954 James A Michener published a book by the name of "Sayonara". It tells the story of a US Air Force Captain in the Korean War, stationed at Itami, the main military base near Osaka in western Japan. Itami per chance, is also close to the city of Takarazuka, home to the famous (still) Takarazuka Review, a theatre company renown for all the roles being played by (very beautiful) young women. And, within the story, it is only a matter time before the Captain is introduced, through a mutual friend, to the lead dancer of the review. This could have been the end of a beautiful story, except sh ..read more

Having been through March 11, 2011 M9.1 earthquake and missing the Kobe event of 1995 by weeks but having friends who were directly impacted and gave me feedback, the Nankai quake recently was a  reminder that a little preparation goes a long way. I hope you find this useful, especially for those new to Japan, and feel absolutely free to ask any questions!   The Emergency Medical Number is 119   First things first: Take a deep breath! Your Earthquake alarm will have made you jump!   So what will happen in the event of a major earthquake?   1    The gro ..read more

Last night saw one of the most spectacular thunderstorms to hit western Tokyo in many a year. "Gaspworthy" as a friend of mine put it. Unusually, it came in from the North and even more unusually, it persevered for several hours, and I don't just mean "peak then a splutter. No, this baby was throwing thunderbolts pretty much the whole time [side note: you can tell how far away the lightening struck by counting the seconds from bolt and blast. Sound, traveling at 343m/s, three seconds is roughly 1km, and yes I know that's an approximation but so is anyone's ability to count seconds. So, under ..read more

It takes time to make friends in Tokyo, however, when you do, you tend to keep them. I first arrived in Japan many years ago and non-Japanese were so thin on the ground, you'd cross the road to say "hello" if you saw one. Young school kids would run up and touch me and run off laughing because they'd engaged a "foreigner". I even once signed an entire train carriage of school kids' note books as they queued up to ask for an English signature. But the friends you make, you keep. And so, in the last week, I've caught up with two old friends. One absent from Japan for five years (remembering our ..read more

Tokyo can throw a lot at you in a very short space of time. But I enjoy it, although it can take a little planning, and sometimes you need to be ready to change those plans at the drop of a hat. The first of two weddings was wonderful and at Meiji Shrine in central Tokyo. Full, beautiful Japanese regalia, bride radiant and husband regal. Dress code was "formal" and so, being English, I was full black tie (which had taken me some time to dig out of the back of the wardrobe) and was completely upstaged by an Italian guy who wore his so well he could have ordered a martini "shaken, not stirred ..read more

 So, there is a general rule of thumb that you never try and do more than three things in a day in Tokyo. You can try but your performance is going to head south the further you go. And before arguments commence, going to work or looking after a baby count as one each, been there, seen it, done it. And anyone looking after a baby has already completed more than anyone going to work at the time of reading so don't complain to your spouse you're tired... Last week thought I had an "interesting" day. I'd known I had a memorial service on the day (not a sad one, he'd had a good innings and pa ..read more

There was an old saying about life in Tokyo, "never try to do more than three things in a day". Going to work and having several meetings still counts as one before you say it... But sometimes things just all happen at the same time in the same place and, of course, it's the moment you catch flu (very mild in case you were wondering. I had Swine Flu many years ago and that was seriously not fun, this time I'll live, that time was touch and go) and the cold, dry blue skies of winter change to a bone chilling rain and that's when it happens. So an old friend flew in last night from Australia (on ..read more

So it snowed in Tokyo this week. It doesn't happen too often as we're protected by the Pacific warmth to the East and the mountains of central Japan to the West absorbing the worst Siberian wether can throw at us. It was a few years ago the last time we saw something and this time was mild, a few centimeters at most in central town. But that never stops wombat drivers going on their daily journey as if it were a dry, sunny day. So watch out when you're walking, most drivers this side of the Alps, simply aren't used to it. I have a small place in the mountains of central Japan close the ski res ..read more

In 1982 I was too young to vote, you had to be eighteen in the UK. In 1987 I happened to be out of the country so missed that one too. By 1992 I was in Japan and we'd never heard of a postal vote (nor had any ability to sign up for it in the first place). By the time of the Brexit referendum I'd been overseas for more than fifteen years and so was disenfranchised under UK law. And although I've paid all my taxes in Japan (and we're talking a lot) the chances of me ever receiving the right to vote here could be compared to the survival opportunities of a gnat in a rather large volcano (and yes ..read more