The current alien registration system in Japan allows foreigners to adopt a Japanese "nickname". "Nickname" sounds very informal, but what it is is an official alternate name that can be used on any legal documents not related to immigration. The info about the new registration system has been released ::HERE::. Worryingly, on page 15, …
Tag Archive: japan
Sep 06
Shambolic Subways
Have not had great luck with subways today. STORY 1 On my way to give my talk for ASIOS at Bungeisha, I had to take the Tokyo subways. My final train change was at Akasaka-Mistuke. I followed the signs on the platform, noting that the line I needed to change to was a whopping 600+ …
Jul 25
Arnie Gundersen – The Facade of Believability
Arnold “Arnie” Gundersen is in some ways the opposite of Michio Kaku. He’s not flashy, he avoids sounding over-the-top, even when he talks about grim scenarios, and he doesn’t wave his arms around like a mad scientist. Gundersen talks a hot load of crap. The first time I saw Gundersen, I thought he …
Jul 24
Michio Kaku Rant – Bibliography
Just a quickie bibliography for my recent post about bullshit artist Michio Kaku. On Plutonium toxicity: Most of my points about plutonium can be found in the plutonium article on Wikipedia. The quotation about 5000 respirable particles was sourced from a plutonium human health fact sheet published by the Argonne National Laboratory. …
Jul 23
Michio Kaku = Douche
Here’s a section of the book chapter I wrote for ASIOS’s upcoming book. Since it’s only going to be published in Japanese, I wanted to share some of it with you. Keep in mind that it’s written for Japanese readers, and for each person or media source I wrote about, I was asked to explain …
Jul 16
All Hands
Okay, here’s the blog entry I promised to write back in May. It’s fucking long, so I won’t blame you if you don’t read it. If you’re one of the amazing people I met and made friends with up in Oofunato, I really hope I don’t lose your friendship because of this post. But I …
Jul 14
A Lot on the Plate
Wow. It’s been more than a month since my last posting—I’ve got a lot to catch up on. The main thing that was taking up my concentration was a book chapter that I was asked to write by ASIOS about the coverage of the 3/11 quake and the Fukushima nuclear crisis by the international …
May 21
Today’s Tweets Extrapolated
And the good ship Curry Express is off for Tohoku! (@ YC&AC) http://4sq.com/jmI0TI I woke up at 4:30, and was on my bike and off to the departure site by 5:20. Good friend Dave had driven my heavier bags over yesterday, so I didn’t have to worry about how to carry them. He will …
May 21
Oofunato Bound At last
I’m writing this on the bus to Oofunato, which I caught with just moments to spare, thanks to the help of @peacefulandjust (I mean, her help is the reason I caught it at all, not the reason I was running to catch it). Where to begin? About a month ago, I signed up …
May 19
Good Day Becomes Bad Day
I set out yesterday morning to clear a bunch of stuff from my to-do list, related to my upcoming volunteer trip to Oofunato. I had 40,000 Yen in my wallet, thanks to scrupulous scrimping and saving over the last three months, which I planned to use for the volunteer trip. The day started out …
May 14
All Aboard the Curry Express
I’m writing this aboard a school bus borrowed from the Indian School in Japan that I have dubbed The Curry Express (related more to its function as a curry delivery platform and less to famed actor Tim Curry), as we hurdle through the night at full bore to try to make Yokohama before 2:00 am. …
Mar 22
Wall of Shame Needs Your Help
The next step for the bad journalism wall-of-shame is in progress. Remember, as important as we think this is wall-of-shame project is, right now human lives are more important. If you do nothing else today (and haven’t already), please DONATE! (<—that link will take you to a page that lists reputable groups you can …
Mar 20
WTF Toronto Star
Here is an article filed by Rosie DiManno of the Toronto Star: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/955721–dimanno-no-rest-for-japan-quake-victims The article was brought to my attention by a contributor to the Bad Journalism Wall of Shame that I started Friday night. I clicked through to read it and was absolutely flabbergasted at it. I had expected a somewhat ill-informed, …
Mar 17
Why Bad Journalism Has Driven Me To Desperate Ends
In retrospect, I should have had this idea before, but I guess today I just hit critical mass (not sure if it’s appropriate to use a nuclear energy turn of phrase here): one too many pieces of bad journalism. So I decided to start a wiki Bad Journalism Wall of Shame and invite some …
Mar 16
Japan: I’m A Resident, Not A Tourist
In response to the big Tohoku earthquake, some people are fleeing Tokyo (and Kanto) and some are fleeing Japan. I am staying put in Yokohama. A lot of friends have offered me places to stay throughout the world should I elect to leave. Many have urged me to leave. This is heart-warming and …
Dec 25
There’s Another Train, There Always Is
So Kanazawa city is behind us now; we’ve just boarded the second of two trains that will carry us to Washizu; the city near Hamamatsu in which we’ll spend the night. I’m not going to go through and do some travelogue. The photos I’ve posted on Facebook and (shortly) on SmugMug will convey the …
Dec 23
SEISHUN 18 KIPPU – Day ONE
Arriving bleary-eyed at six in the morning; rushing along platform after platform to not only make your connection, but to get a good seat; finally pulling out your laptop and connecting to the internet to post your thoughts, just as the train plunges into a week-long tunnel; high school girls in their ridiculous full-length parkas, …
Aug 06
On the Road Again
Well, I’m sitting in Narita airport, at my gate, just shy of two hours before boarding. I’m flying JAL this time, which isn’t so bad (they have a great Japanese lime drink that they serve), but I mislike Narita’s Terminal two. One: it’s too hot. I’m dressed in cotton for my flight, and …
Jul 22
Another Week Slips By
Another week slips by, and with it another chance to sign our renovation contract. I’m pulling some real yuppie shit here right now and I’m writing this in a Starbucks in central Tokyo where I’ve taken refuge from a stinking hot day. I haven’t kept up with this blog at all, but here are …
Jun 09
Toronto Bound
I am writing this on the airport bus. I had about 5 hours of sleep last night, which is much more than I usually get the night before a flight. Of course, today’s flight departs at 16:00, which gave me some wiggle room in the morning. Not that I wasn’t tearing out the door …
May 23
Toaster
Busy weekend at the house so far. More on that later. I snapped a photo of the vintage toaster I mentioned last week, so I thought I’d post it.
Apr 21
Tick Tock, Tick Tock
So, we put an offer in on the Kamiooka Tea House last Sunday, and we’re waiting to hear back. Apparently there are three owners that must all be consulted, so I wonder if our contract-signing date will actually be able to be this Saturday as scheduled, or not… In the meantime, here are some …
Apr 18
Real Estate Agent Weirdness
We had a meeting with Rehouse today to put an offer in on the house we’ve chosen. For some weird reason, the seller’s agent wanted craploads of info about me… Workplace, salary, etc. I made a bit of a stink about this because there is absolutely no legal requirement for this. The bank has all …
Apr 16
Higashi-Totsuka House
After the Idogaya Sunroom house got nixed, we moved to our next favourite, which we’d seen on the second big house-viewing weekend (the morning of the same day with all the drama surrounding Idogaya). This was a huge (135 square meters) house in Higashi-Totsuka, about ten minutes from my sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s place. We visited …
little birds