They grace the Internet like snack foods at a cocktail party. And I wonder . . . does anyone have the willpower to ignore a bowl of trail mix? Or a plate of cheese and crackers? I know I don’t. So it goes with ...

Sometimes students will ask me, “What’s your favorite Japanese word?” And thus you, in turn, might ask, “Favorite Japanese word? Geesh. Why would they ever ask that?” And so now I must ask you back, “Why would you ever ask what they ask? Geesh. ...

A pleasant day in the park with a caressing sun and the flirtatious glow of spring! To top our day of Tokyo touring, I treat my U.S. guest to a food-stall serving of takoyaki — small balls of breaded octopus. Which — if you ...

What’s wrong with this picture? You’re standing on a street corner and right at you strolls a Japanese beauty. Mahogany hair, walnut eyes, ruby lips, milky skin and a figure so lithe that Venus herself might sigh with envy. A figure outlined by an ...

“Know of any jobs? Anything at all?” So . . . I swallow some beer and give him my list. Our doorbell’s busted. Our front gate squeaks. Our light fixtures are chock full of dried bugs. And I haven’t dusted my office bookshelves in ...

One problem I have with the phrase “language struggles” is the image. For the picture is one of a contest. Of a wrestling match or a sweaty uphill climb. A never-ending tussle in which there are both gains and losses, but gradually — oh ...

Patience . . . People say the Japanese are born with it. With the Japanese brain composed of a frontal lobe, a temporal lobe, a parietal lobe and a patience lobe. This happens when you live forever under the whims of Mother Nature. Earthquakes. ...

“Here’s an idea. . . . Why not plug my book?” Of course, he means with words and not bullets. Though most of my own books might have sold better as targets. And he is also joking. For he — an old friend — ...

On occasion I meet someone with a suggestion for this column, proposals that I typically decline. Which is why you have never read entries here concerning use of these pages as birdcage liner, toilet paper or confetti. But now I have received a different ...

There’s this guy I drink morning coffee with. Like me, he came to Japan as a young man and now wonders where the decades have flown. We sit at the window and watch the people rush past, so much like the years of our ...

You’ve heard it . . . Japanese can take an idea and improve upon it, but they can’t come up with the idea themselves. A tiresome notion that needs to be washed away by all the abundant evidence to the contrary. For the Japanese ...

The warmth of the holiday season often cooks up a nice story — a helping of good will to be served with turkey and plum pudding, osechi and omochi or whatever other delicacies might grace your international table. And that’s what I’ve got this ...