Year of the Tiger. Happy New Year. あけましておめでとうございます。

No, not progressive politics, progressive eyeglasses. I got a pair recently, since I was having real trouble reading small print. Bifocals ...

We're back from Hokkaido. We came home late last night and only did the most pressing things (like putting away all the salmon, squid, s...

We've arrived in Sapporo after three nights in eastern Hokkaido. Haven't had time to really go through the pictures taken so far, bu...

We're in Hokkaido for Christmas, where we're relaxing far away from the stresses of city life. We had a sleep in, had a long walk in...

The Huge rubber duck that floated by Nakanoshima island in Osaka this summer is back! There's a winter light festival happening along N...

Ritsuko has plenty of friends and acquaintances spread out all over Japan. There's a stronger tradition of gift-giving here than I'm...