Alice Gordenker - The Japan Times

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Alice Gordenker

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Alice Gordenker

Alice Gordenker writes the "So, What the Heck is That?" column, providing in-depth, carefully researched explanations of the things foreigners find so puzzling about Japan. Her work has been modified as a textbook for Japanese university students called "Surprising Japan" (Shohakusha, 2012).

For Alice Gordenker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Mar 18, 2004

Wartime stories of schoolkids on the move

I recently stumbled across a war story I knew nothing about. I was at the library looking for books to keep my older son reading in Japanese, now that he no longer attends Japanese school. Since he had just made a trip to Hiroshima with his international school, I chose books about Japanese children's...

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Feb 19, 2004

Schools step in to teach kids table manners

Why is it so difficult to teach children table manners? My kids are quick learners. My oldest only needs to hear a Weird Al song once and he's got the lyrics memorized. His little brother can recite the specs for every fighter plane ever built. So why can't they master the trick of getting their napkins...

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jan 15, 2004

Meiji schoolhouse offers lessons in history

"You want us to go to school on our day off?" my 9-year-old cried in disbelief. "Zettai iyada! (Absolutely no way!)" He's been in Japan since he was 5 and tends to speak in Japanese when he's riled. "Yeah, leave it to our mother to come up with a cockamamie scheme like going to school while we're on...

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Dec 18, 2003

Colorblind schoolkids can see clearly now

Red. Green. Red. Green. A simple pattern. Or so I thought, until I spent an hour at the Japanese elementary school my son attends. I had come in to do holiday crafts, and was showing the kids how to make a paper chain in Christmas colors. I told them to take a strip of red paper and bend it into a circle....

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Nov 20, 2003

Empty school buildings: reuse or recycle?

Not far from where I live, there's an elementary school with just 36 students. It's not a private school. It doesn't have a special curriculum. It's a regular public school designed to serve several hundred students. But the neighborhood has changed into a business district, and the few residents who...

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Oct 16, 2003

Lessons in the field yield unexpected harvests

Call me a coward, but I get nervous when surrounded by rowdy youths carrying sharp blades.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Sep 25, 2003

When the grass is greener on the other side

I was starting a load of laundry, my son's dirty trousers in hand, when I sensed something was wrong. I couldn't put my finger on what was troubling me. I held up my kid's khakis, looking for a clue. It wasn't that his pants were filthy. They are always filthy. It wasn't that they were full of holes....

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jul 31, 2003

Guest teachers build barrier-free minds

My 8-year-old wanted to use my computer. "I need to search the Internet for a picture of a kurumaisu," he said, in his usual blend of English and Japanese. Never mind that both his parents are American; he's lived in Japan since he was 5 and attends a Japanese elementary school. This qualifies him as...

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel

Jul 20, 2003

Get in touch with your inner Tarzan

It can be difficult to get my kids moving on weekends, but I knew just how to motivate them for an outing one Saturday. "Hey boys," I said. "Wanna go to a park where visitors fall into the water so often that they rent out spare clothes?"

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jul 3, 2003

Learning firsthand about rice cultivation

I have new respect for the rainy season. I used to hate tsuyu, these dreary weeks of drizzle. But now that I'm a farmer, I see the value of so much rain. I'm farming a bucket of rice on my balcony and can't keep up with the watering.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jun 5, 2003

National hygiene begins in the classroom

I always like to hear from readers, but it's especially nice when they provide ideas for my column. Several wrote in recently about severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Japan Times

LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO

May 11, 2003

Family biking weekends for a song

UTSUNOMIYA -- Comfortable lodging for a family of four, with meals, for less than 20,000 yen? Yes, it's possible, even in Japan. That's all my family paid for a very enjoyable overnight in Utsunomiya, at a public facility that promotes bicycling.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

May 8, 2003

More breathing space in the classroom

Last month, just before the new school year started in Japan, I ran into a neighbor at the supermarket. She's a bit high-strung and gets worked up over school matters, so I try to avoid her. But she collared me by the cabbages and dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper. "Have you heard? The Suzukis...

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Apr 10, 2003

Can our kids get a healthy meal for less?

Would you pay 2,500 yen for a simple lunch on a battered tin tray? Of course not. For that kind of money, you could get a three-course luncheon served on fine china. But believe it or not, 2,500 yen is the cost of the lunch my kid eats at school every day. It's no wonder so many local governments have...

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Mar 13, 2003

Don't wait till bullying hits close to home

This is the column I thought I'd never have to write. It's about how my son was bullied at school.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Feb 11, 2003

Finally, anti-tobacco lessons come to schools

Every time our family sits down in a restaurant in Japan, my 11-year-old sniffs the air with disgust. He waves a hand through the cigarette haze and glares at the smokers all around us. "What's the matter with these people?" he growled when we went out for a meal the other day. "Didn't anyone ever teach...

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jan 13, 2003

Learning from living things, often the hard way

Since I write this column at home, school holidays are always a problem. It's impossible to get any work done with my kids hanging around. One day during the recent winter holidays, I complained about feeling pressured. The deadline for today's column was looming, but I didn't even have a topic.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Dec 16, 2002

Will dramatic arts take a backseat?

Two months ago, my 8-year-old came home from the Japanese elementary school he attends and told me about the play his grade would do at the upcoming gakugeikai (drama festival).

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Nov 22, 2002

Are our schools ready for a big one?

Every few months, I have the same nightmare: A major earthquake strikes Tokyo when my kids are at school. The city is in ruins. There's no electricity, the phones are out and the trains have stopped. I run through the streets, unable to find my children, until I wake up in a cold sweat.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Nov 8, 2002

Fishing for parental help on field trips

For me, a major benefit of moving to Japan was not having to chaperone school field trips anymore.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Things may look perfect to the outside world, but today's mom is fine with some imperfection at home.

How 'Reiwa moms' are reshaping motherhood in Japan

By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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