Category Archives: Reviews

The Culture Map: A Book Review

Awareness of the numerous disparate nuances allows individuals to navigate the shoals of manners and cultural norms with greater ease and less distress. Continue reading

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Fashion Duds

Though it wasn’t on the trip “To Do List” I was open to being tempted by Tokyo fashion. I’ve bought beloved and timeless clothing in Japan that is still going strong more than a decade later. However, on some previous … Continue reading

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Touring Asakusa in Kimono with Friends

Two friends from Toyohashi (near Nagoya) visited me on the weekend. They wanted to have lunch, then dress in rented kimonos to wander around Asakusa and visit Sensoji Temple. After that, they wanted to view the illuminations at Skytree Town.

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Tokyo Opera’s Der Rosenkavalier

Last Sunday I attended Tokyo Opera’s Der Rosenkavalier. It’s a tale of the Marschallin Princess Marie Thérèse, an aristocrat in a bittersweet dalliance with young Count Octavian. This, as all things do, must end. The inevitable is the inevitable; however, … Continue reading

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A Kitchen Not Quite Fully Equipped

When I undertook to live in Tokyo for three months I understood there would be new things to figure out. I knew I’d have no idea how anything worked except as outlined in the big blue binder of rules and … Continue reading

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A Shout out to Brastel’s Japan Travel SIM

  If you are not particularly tech savvy like me, solving the problem of cell phone service while in Japan can be challenging. Hours of online research online went into weighing the options. My Canadian provider could give me coverage, … Continue reading

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The People: Kishin Shinoyama Exhibit in Kanazawa

I manage to catch the last day that photographer Kishin Shinoyama’s photographic exhibition The People is showing at Kanazawa’s stunning 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. (Do take a peek at the building here as it is beyond words.)

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Silence: Musings on Scorsese’s Film

I agree with Matt Zoller Seitz the editor in chief at RogerEbert.com who states that Martin Scorsese’s Silence is a film you experience and then live with. That’s true in spite of its flaws.

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Terrace House is on Netflix

The last time I was part of a group where everyone minded each others business was before adulthood. During that time I belonged to a church; a small, conservative, community of Mennonites who despite their unique culture, good works and … Continue reading

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India Independence Day

Yesterday was India’s Independence Day.

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