The Foreigner - Japan :: an online magazine on living, working and traveling in Japan

Last updated: June 27, 2006

Feature
Maybe Next Time!

By Stephen Lebovits

Photo by Peter Fuchs
Japanese football fans at the World Cup in Germany.

When was the last time that I stayed up until the crack of dawn to watch my adopted country's soccer team try and beat the odds…NEVER! But there I was, 4 a.m. Tokyo time, jazzed to watch what would no doubt be a wide-open game while my wife was fast asleep just beside me.

The birds were chirping and the crows crowing as the day broke and the game started.

Most fans knew that is was mathematically possible for Japan to move into the next round, but that in all likelihood their chances of beating Brazil, and by more than two goals, while Australia lost to Croatia, seemed just too remote. But nothing is impossible, or rather, Impossible is Nothing!

Tourism

Tourism or trespassing?

Tokyo is quite unlike other cities in structural scope. It is initially aesthetically comforting, but the subtle, unwritten rules of the streets and buildings lead to some confusion and embarrassing situations. In comparison, Australian cities are none too complex. It is by comparing the two (and indeed, other cities from Europe and ...

Column
Experiencing "The Panic"

It's that knee-knocking fear some Japanese people get in the presence of a foreigner. Estimates from the 2005 Census show that there are at about 2.5 million of us gaijin running around the place, so chances are your average Japanese person has run into at least a couple in their lifetime.

Review
Lively Up Yourself

Chalk and cheese. Salt and cornflakes. Some things are just not meant to go together and can make for an awful mess. However, some opposites can compliment each other. I once tried chocolate chilli at a Mexican restaurant, with great trepidation.

Fiction
My little white box

My little white box is small and light. My little white box looks like a medical device, an instrument of measurement for some unknown human condition or an add-on appendage for some greater hospital machine that enables the functioning of the whole system and which, if it were removed, would cause the patient to die.

Column
Getting Here - Why n How!

There seems to be a common thread running through some of my travels; if I've visited a place enough times there's a good chance that I'll end up living there for a bit.

Tourism
Honouring the Iron Phallus

At first, it seemed just like any other Japanese festival: under the blossoming cherry trees, brightly-decorated stalls offered yakitori (chicken skewers), yakisoba (fried noodles), cold beer, and other common festival fare.

Essay
The hospital stay

When I was offered a job in Japan, I immediately began preparing: dividing my possessions into "stuff to store" and "stuff to take," renewing mypassport, shopping for business-wear, and brushing up on my Japanese.

Photo Essay

Urban Chic

by Michael Lalande

view all photo essays