Category Archives: Just another day in Japan

July 10

Nemesis, Thy Name Is Squid Guts

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I was in Kamakura today, happily waiting for the arrival of my sesame soba and a mountain of crispy burdock root… …when they delivered my beer along with the usual unwanted  (yet always-delivered) “beer snack.” Just my luck, it was my most un-favorite appetizer. Squid guts. All right. Ugh. Don’t be That Foreigner. Get it over with. […]

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May 18

How Superheros Find Their Perfect Match

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I had to laugh when I saw these ads on the subway for the Partner Agent dating service. It features famous manga characters who ordinarily would never meet because they occupy totally different Japanese comic book series. She’s a villain named Doronjo, known for being smart, take-charge, and vain. He’s an renegade medical mercenary, who […]

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April 13

Subway Manners…For Ghosts

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I’m afraid this subway manners poster isn’t going to do much to convince Things That Go Bump In The Night to stop harassing passengers – in fact, it’ll probably infuriate them to learn that they are merely as annoying as a wet umbrella or an overstuffed backpack, thus triggering a supernatural reign of terror. Don’t […]

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April 01

The Scourge Of The Orange Jacket

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Okay, I know you think I’m a whiner because I went off on this guy wearing an orange jacket, sitting right in the middle of a shot I wanted to take during cherry blossom season at Shinjuku Gyōen. I mean, one guy, minding his own business – so what if his head’s inside his phone […]

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January 13

Before There Was Uber Eats, There Was…

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…this. • When not craving sushi delivery, Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Tokyo  

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January 08

Dogs In Kimonos: Shiba Edition!

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The only thing in all of Japan that might be cuter than huskies in kimonos is a parade of shiba inus in kimono. Shibas are well-known for making like the Petrified Forest and refusing to budge until even the tiniest hint of humiliating costumery is removed, but the noble beasts I caught making their first shrine […]

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December 30

How To Survive New Year’s In Japan

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Seriously. The fear is real. New Year’s is one of those times in Japan when it’s a real liability to be thousands of miles away from people who might loan you embarrassing essentials or feed you in a pinch, because everything – and I do mean everything – shuts down from December 31 to January […]

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