Aug
27
2008
A recent opinion poll by the Yomiuri Shinbun found that 55% of women believe that they can live happily without being married, up a whopping 30% from 1978 figures. Similarly, only 30% of women agreed that the ideal marriage has the husband working while the wife stays at home.
Attitudes towards marriage and child raising in Japan are changing, in apparent in the country’s dismally low birth rate. It’s not that people don’t want to get married; rather, many don’t see a reason to. At least not right now.
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Aug
26
2008
So I’ve been in Kanazawa for over a year now. I bet you were all expecting a One Year Anniversary Introspective, but you’ll find no such soul searching here. Instead I’m going to talk about my recent trip to Tokyo.
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Feb
20
2008
I¡Çve found myself doing a lot of reading lately.The cold weather and lack of insulation in my house has driven me to seek refuge in coffee shops. This is a bit trickier then it sounds. The stylish cafés along the waterways close around 8:00 at the latest. The staff at Starbucks start to hover around you around 10:00 until you become uncomfortable enough to leave, and Detour shuts its doors at around the same time.
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Dec
21
2007
In Japan it is customary to close the past twelve months with an end of the year party: Bounenkai, or literally “forget the year party.” And what better way to forget the year then booze!
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Dec
06
2007
Back in the states, the gradual advent of Christmas songs on the radio and in malls is thought of as a harbinger of the end times rather than the precursor for the joyful holiday they are meant to represent. Noel hitting heavy rotation on the airwaves means you can expect excessive mall traffic, crappy weather, and a sudden dip into your savings. Christmas was the definitive half-way point between now and Summer Vacation when you were a kid, but the holidays only get more stressful and oppressive as you grow older. Bah, humbug.
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