Hanami Highlights
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Those of you who teach in elementary school have probably already gotten your first taste of “Hi, Friends!†– the book they’re using to replace good ol’英語ノート(EIGO NOTO). Hi, Friends!, which in no way lends itself to funny mock-titles, is dragging my elementary school kicking and fighting into the 21st century. Because while the book…
A photo gallery from Jon Burroughs
Our cherry blossoms may have been here in an instant, gone with a flash, but if you missed out on Yabu’s thousand-year-old sakura blooms, you can still get your ancient (but still going strong) flora on in the Yamasaki (Shiso) area early in May. Shiso’s thousand-year-old wisteria is a beautiful sight to behold. Typically, the…
The lights are dim. Drinks litter the table. People are laughing and talking somewhere in the dark. Suddenly, the TV screen changes and music swells – it’s the opening of  “My Heart Will Go On.†Someone hands me a microphone. “Ganbatte!†excited voices shout, chuckling, waiting. Ugh. We’ve all been there. Karaoke is an integral…
I love this style of cooking in Japan. It is wonderful to all sit around the hot pot and enjoy cooking and eating together. This dish’s name comes from the sound of the meat or fish swishing in the water as it is cooked.
So, you wake up one day and you find yourself staring at a stranger in the mirror. And in addition to your eye-brows that need to be re-arched, a facial that is over-due and the nose job you have been contemplating, you also find yourself thinking a certain way, you are embedded with certain thoughts,…