About the Author
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the Internets a better place. Thanks for reading!
Monthly Archives: December 2010
Ringing in the New Year in Japan 2010
Things are of course winding down here in at my wife’s house in Japan for the new year. Among many traditions here, you can see people flocking to their local shops and drug stores to redeem coupons for a chance … Continue reading
Reliving Final Fantasy Fun
When I was a young lad, about 10, I was a proud owner of the original NES 8-bit system, complete with games like Legend of Zelda, Super Mario and such. But probably my most favorite game was Final Fantasy I, … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Technology
2 Comments
Respect the Geisha!
Geisha are a subject I usually don’t take much interest in, but I recently read this article by the University of Kyoto which reminds people to respect Geisha and the apprentices (Maiko). It’s a known problem in Japan that foreigners … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Travel
4 Comments
A Moonlit Night
On a recent evening, while taking out the trash, I took this photo of the moon. Being a cold Autumn evening in early December, I found the moon captivating: Which seemed to fit a certain poem from the Hyakunin Isshu … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, Poetry
3 Comments
Thanks Everyone and Happy Holidays!
Today is Christmas Morning over here, but with my wife and daughter over in Japan, and me working a lot of on-call shifts at work, I am not really doing much. I spent the morning, before my shift, cruising around … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
4 Comments
A look at Lady Murasaki’s Diary, part 4: Malaise
Can I remain indifferent to those birds on the water? I too am floating in a sad, uncertain world. –Lady Murasaki’s Diary, page 22 Lately, I’ve been reading the Diary of Lady Murasaki, which I discussed previously. Though very short, … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Literature
Leave a comment
JLPT N2: time to get it done!
Recently, while surfing the Intertubes1 I found this helpful site which posits the age-old question:2 “Is the JLPT worth it?”. Speaking as someone who recently took the new JLPT N3 test, and am still waiting on the results (and not … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, JLPT, Language
8 Comments
A Modern Look at the Four Gratitudes
My little girl goes to “Dharma School” almost every Sunday, which is the Buddhist version of “Sunday School”, here at the Buddhist temple in Seattle. She’s almost four years old, and this past weekend for Bodhi Day, they made these … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Family, Religion
Leave a comment
Snowfall
After a recent snowfall here in Seattle, I thought this poem from the Hyakunin Isshu seemed fitting. 朝ぼらけ asaborake 有明の月と ariake no tsuki to みるまでに miru made ni 吉野の里に yoshino no sato ni ふれる白雪 fureru shirayuki Surely the morning moon, … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Photography, Poetry
4 Comments
An Example of Rinzai Buddhist Liturgy
In April readers will no doubt recall my trip to Japan and in particular Kyoto/Nara which I hadn’t seen in five years. Among the many sites there we saw the Silver Pavilion, which is technically a temple of the Rinzai … Continue reading
