Dear Alice There is a shop in Ryogoku in Tokyo that sells a rock and a piece of metal as a souvenir set. I am wondering if this has something to do with an old Japanese custom I’ve heard about in which iron is ...

Dear Alice, There’s a shrine near where I live that has stickers splattered all over it. The effect is pretty wild and free-spirited, as if a bunch of ravers were let loose on it, and it seems totally out of character for what is ...

Dear Alice,The other day, while strolling in a park near my home, I overheard a group of middle-aged ladies. One of them said, “a, toire no nioi!” (“Oh, smells like a toilet!”) and everyone laughed. I was puzzled, since we were nowhere near the ...

Dear Alice, I’ve been married for three years to a Japanese woman who insists on doing laundry every day. When I asked her why, she said, “That’s how we do it in Japan.” I find this strange because Japanese people are generally very ecologically ...

Dear Alice, What the heck are “lady’s” discounts? I’ve only been in Japan for six months, but I’ve already been served a “lady’s lunch” (free coffee and dessert); been to “ladies day” at the movies (almost half price); and went to Kyoto on a ...

Dear Alice, What the heck is with all the Darth Vader impersonators in Japan? You know who I mean: the middle-aged ladies who bike around with menacing-looking windshields attached to their heads. I steer clear because the shields completely obscure their faces and I ...

Dear Alice, A long time ago, I received a little leather coin purse as a gift from a visiting Japanese exchange student. I was intrigued by its unusual pattern, but unfortunately he couldn’t explain its significance to me. Nor could any of the Japanese ...

Dear Alice, Imagine my horror when I came home one evening to find my Japanese wife bent over our little son, about to thrust a sharpened stick into his ear! I shouted at her to stop, giving her the fright of her life. She ...

Dear Alice, It has been my great pleasure, these past few months, to watch from my window the total destruction of a large building. The work started with three hydraulic excavators that carefully crushed their way down from the roof. Now I’m watching a ...