Category Archives: holidays

Daddy-daughter vacation (kind of)


Friday, my two daughters (aged 7 and 4) and I set off on a four-hour bullet train (Shinkansen) ride without my wife. She did see us off at the Shin-Osaka bullet train station, but since she had a week-long business … Continue reading

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Party Hardy, Daddy & Mommy!


There are lots of parties in Japan. Parties when people get hired. Parties when people retire. Parties when a sporting event is held. Parties when a building is officially opened. Parties to “forget the year,” and parties to start the new one. Even parties to celebrate the release of a new book. Continue reading

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Nanakusa: A Japanese Epiphany? (Holidays part 3)


It seems like no coincidence that Nana-kusa is at the beginning of the final solar period of winter. Continue reading

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