Japan

Ah, Japan... land of cubicle hotels and salarymen, of noodles and samurai, of colorful, siezure-inducing cartoons, and poorly translated instruction manuals. Some day soon I will make the trip, the adventure, the life-changing time-warp into an alternate dimension.

I hear they have pretty fancy toilets there, too.

I've just been reading 'Memoirs of a Geisha' – and am quietly amazed to realize that, even without classic good looks or sexy elbows, I've often been treated as a 'geisha' on my various academic research trips to Japan! I moved almost entirely among men and was frequently asked to 'sing for my supper – delicious sushi, tempura or whatever', by demonstrating my extensive knowledge of Japanese history, reciting verse or laughing prodigiously at various male jokes and insinuations. To cap it all, when I took my baby daughter with me to the Kansai, a bemused young male reporter from the Osaka edition of 'Mainichi Shimbun' listened to me pontificating innocently on Japan's modernization and economic development – and then left most of it out under the much more eye-catching banner headline »Mama-san koshi« (Mummy is a Lecturer.....). Has anything changed?!!

Lange nichts von Dir gehoert. Wie geht's? oboeterukana? Ich bin seit 1 Jahr in Tokyo.
Bitte schreib was under die nachfolgende Adresse:
okuda_miho@hotmail.com

The banking crisis in Japan continues.

Stock in Kamikaze Bank has nosedived.

Karaoke Bank is for sale, reportedly for a song.

Dismissed employees at Sushi Bank say they got a raw deal.