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: May 2012
Ikkyu-san, the Clever Little Monk
One of the most famous and lovable Buddhist monks in Japan is Ikkyū, affectionately called ikkyū-san (一休さん) in popular culture. Ikkyu-san is a clever, and mischievous young Buddhist monk (kozō 小僧) who often outsmarts adults, and helps his friends. There … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Family, Japan, Literature, Zen
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Remembering the Fallen
It’s a bit late for Memorial Day in the US, but I wanted to write this anyway. I still play the game Halo: Combat Evolved at home using Linux (via WINE emulator), and there’s always one scene I remember. It’s … Continue reading
Fighting to Preserve the Okinawa Lanugage One Student at a Time
Recently, the good folks at the Japan Times posted an article about a man named Fija Byron (比嘉ばいろん), who was the son of an American and a Okinawan woman. He never met his father, and struggled with an identity crisis … Continue reading
Domestic Violence in Japan, the world
Recently, I read an interesting, though disturbing article by the Japan Times that shows that domestic violence in Japan affects 1 out of 3 women but that this number may be under-reported. Also, as the article shows, 41 percent of … Continue reading
Posted in Family, Japan
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Congrats to Nembutsu Postcard Winners!
Hi Everyone, I’m posting this a bit late (preparations for camping trip took longer than expected), but I wanted to say congrats to Danny C. and Marc who both won the nembutsu post-card contest I posted about last saturday! Both … Continue reading
Posted in General
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Alertness, not Mindfulness
Recently, a fellow blogger named Cocomino, posted an interesting article about how people make better decisions in a foreign language. The explanation behind the research is that: Namely, people are less likely to fall into common cognitive traps when tested … Continue reading
“May Disease” strikes Japan yearly
Recently I was listening to a JapanesePod101.com episode1 and they talked about something called gogatsu-byō (五月病) which can be translated as “May Disease”. According to Wikipedia JP, April is an important time for both school and work because. New students … Continue reading
Yet another new hobby (sort of): Learning Latin
Because studying 2 languages wasn’t enough. Recently, my wife and I were thinking that it would be cool to teach our daughter Latin. Like her father, she likes languages1 and already knows Japanese and English. But also, learning Latin is … Continue reading
NASA: Another Day on the Job
Recently on Twitter, Astronaut and all-round nice guy Jack Fischer posted this photo on Twitter (used with permission): This is a Northrop T-38 Talon ramjet taken on a nice sunrise in Texas. The T-38 is a very popular jet airplane … Continue reading
Nembutsu Postcards
Not too long ago, I found these postcards hidden in my pilgrimage book. I think I received them when read “Johnl” and I visited a small Jodo Shu temple in the Meguro ward of Tokyo. Last year, Japan celebrated the … Continue reading
