My family and I were having lunch in Japan with one of my high school friends. She said, “Do you remember the school festival where we dressed up as a prehistoric man and woman?” I searched for a picture deep among my high school memories. And then realized that we didn’t have smart phones back … More Perfection and perspectives
“This is strange,” my daughter said as we sat in my father’s living room, “Why do Japanese need to find a Japanese in a remote foreign country?” “I don’t know.” I felt a pang of guilt; I should know why. We were watching TV in Japan and the program went like this. A Japanese comedian … More Imagine that!
Japan is a very good place to live if you have friends or family there. There’s a lot of kindness and good will to go around. I recently spent time with my father in Northern Japan. My daughter needed to practice piano, but my father didn’t have one. I casually mentioned this to one of … More Aunt Sato and her hydrangea
If I was asked twenty-five years ago, “What is the most difficult thing you have needed to adjust to in the U.S.?” I would’ve answered, “The weather.” The first place I lived in the U.S. was Arizona. Arizona’s dry weather was powerful enough to turn pine needles into hazardous objects that could puncture and deflate … More Acclimatization to America
Year 2016 was a presidential election year. One morning, I turned my car radio on while driving my daughter to school. A lady on radio said, “If Trump becomes a president, Miley Cyrus will vomit and then move to Canada. But first, she vomits!” She emphasized that point. My daughter chuckled in the back. The … More Geography and mindset
When I was in high school in Japan, I had a music teacher who once asked me, “What color do you like?” I thought about it for a few seconds, and responded, “White.” “You’re lying.” What? She continued, “That is not the color you like. I like the kids who give me honest answers.” She … More Can I be vague about this?
My family and I were on the train platform, sending off my husband’s aunt to New York. I was watching her through the train window as she settled into her seat when I heard, “Wait!” I turned to the staircase, but didn’t see anything. I looked up and found a tall beautiful young woman running … More Moving forward
I was surprised when my daughter told me that AP U.S. history in high school is a two-year course. I asked jokingly, “Why do you need two years? American history is less than two hundred fifty years.” But of course, Americans become Americans through education as not everyone was born in the U.S. and not … More A word can change history
I believe in science. But I question the concept of evolution when I look at my cats. The law of natural selection doesn’t seem to apply to them. One of them is a hunter. She crawls very slowly and low on the floor whenever she sees a bird on the porch railing, only to be … More Cats are masters
I once read that there isn’t a good translation for the Japanese word “mottainai.” Mottainai has some elegant uses, however, it’s commonly used to express the desire for no waste. Time is precious; time is mottainai. Don’t waste paper; paper is mottainai. According to Japanese dictionaries, mottainai is seeing that the value of something or … More Eat it to save it