For Andreas Neuenkirchen's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
In the final entry of a three-part series on moving house during the pandemic, our writer masks up to meet the neighbors.
Moving into a new home doesn’t have to be stressful if you get help. What comes before and after that is tough enough.
In the first of a three-part series, our writer outlines the twists and turns his family encountered when they opted to look for a new place to live.
If you don't have a dog to walk, running gets you outside for some fresh air and helps keep your health up at a time when we all need to be healthy.
These days, I find myself singing “Happy Birthday” several times between daybreak and bedtime. As the next birthday in our family is weeks away, I feel a bit silly about it, even though I mostly confine the singing to my head. Since I am ...
Chapter 4 Hina had made her husband, Franz, agree with her that his parents, who were visiting from Germany, might expect more from their first trip to Japan than hanging around Happy Road Oyamadai. They were going through their options. "I will not take them ...
Chapter 3 "What is that?!" Franz's father, Armin, gasped when his son's friend O.G. erected the blindingly shiny and colorful construction he had bought for their living room. "It's a Christmas tree," O.G. explained. "What color is it?" O.G. checked the label. "Rainbow," he said. "In my time, they ...
Chapter 2 Franz called his wife from the Narita Express terminal at Shibuya Station to inform her that he had completely forgotten about his parents coming to visit them over the holidays and that they were already at Narita Airport. Hina took the news unexpectedly ...
Chapter 1 The best thing about leaving his neighborhood of Happy Road Oyamadai was that he would always return to it. That was the thought that gave Franz comfort now, in this noisy and confusing environment. Not a lot of comfort, though. Under his beard, ...
I'm fine with playing the German to humor my Japanese acquaintances — just not one German in particular.
