The final week of Murakami Fest 2021! Here are the previous posts: Year 1: Boobs, The Wind, Baseball, Lederhosen, Eels, Monkeys, and Doves Year 2: Hotel Lobby Oysters, Condoms, Spinning Around and Around, 街・町, The Town and Its Uncertain Wall, A Short Piece on the Elephant that Crushes Heineken Cans Year … Continue reading
I was in the Japan Times twice recently. The first is an extended look at いい歳 (ii toshi, decent/sensible age), which I initially examined in my May newsletter: “What exactly does it mean when someone tells you to ‘act your … Continue reading
Adjectives in Japanese are not always what they appear to be! I think part of this is because they function as what I call “performative adjectives.” One of my sixth-grade students helped me finally understand what かわいそう meant. And in … Continue reading
I was in The Japan Times with one of my favorite Bilingual page articles I’ve ever written: “Focus on sentence endings to ‘see the future’ in Japanese.” This is another product of my now daily NHK habit. I’ve been thinking … Continue reading
Week four of Murakami Fest 2020! Previous Murakami Fest Posts: Year 1: Boobs, The Wind, Baseball, Lederhosen, Eels, Monkeys, and Doves Year 2: Hotel Lobby Oysters, Condoms, Spinning Around and Around, 街・町, The Town and Its Uncertain Wall, A Short Piece on the Elephant that Crushes Heineken Cans Year 3: “The Town … Continue reading
Greetings from August 2020, dear readers. We’re still operating mostly indoors, although we have a bike now and the weather in Chicago has been good, which means that the city is out and about (for better or worse) and there … Continue reading
Year One: Boobs, The Wind, Baseball, Lederhosen, Eels, Monkeys, and Doves Year Two: Hotel Lobby Oysters, Condoms, Spinning Around and Around, 街・町, The Town and Its Uncertain Wall, A Short Piece on the Elephant that Crushes Heineken Cans Year Three: “The Town and Its Uncertain Wall” – Words and Weirs, The Library, Old Dreams, Saying … Continue reading
Here we are, the final chapter of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I first read this book during the summer of 1999. I remember the first 100 pages being a slog and then just flying through the … Continue reading
Murakami Fest 2018, Week 3! The PENULTIMATE chapter of Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Here are the previous fest posts: Year One: Boobs, The Wind, Baseball, Lederhosen, Eels, Monkeys, and Doves Year Two: Hotel Lobby Oysters, Condoms, Spinning Around and Around, 街・町, The Town and Its Uncertain … Continue reading
I’m in the Japan Times today with a look at how to use Japanese travel guides to study the language while you’re traveling in other countries: “Learn Japanese as you travel the world.” I wrote the blog post below over … Continue reading