In Sunday's column, I told readers why I will be leaving Japan while, appropriately, explaining what is required for foreigners to get married in Japan, which is what we did. I also said I would explain what would replace this column. Actually, I can't do that. It is up to you. I know there are a lot of talented writers among our readers and here is a chance to propose a column to replace this one. You must be able to show how you can continue it over a long period of time. I would suggest a question and answer format; it is helpful to have feedback from your readers. It should include information on what is happening in Japan and new services/opportunities. Write two or three to show your way of writing and the topics you could cover. Decide on a length and stay with it. Mine run close to 3,558 characters without spaces.
When I started, it was very difficult to find products, foods, clothes or just about anything that was like what people had become accustomed to back home. This was not especially interesting to me, nor I presume to my readers, until I started exploring the history and culture that surrounded the differences, and I have enjoyed my work tremendously ever since. There had been a Q&A column running in the Japan Times for several years. A few days after I arrived in Japan, it was announced that the writer was leaving. Someone else had already been hired, but when she left, I had a phone call from the paper -- by then I knew several of the people who worked there -- and my first column appeared three days later. I only missed one deadline in the next 36 years. I was overseas and the mail was delayed. Now our communications are electronic. Some days I never leave my desk. You should realize that writing is a demanding responsibility that always comes first. That's how it is.
In my first column, I asked for questions, comments and discoveries that could ease, lighten or entertain all the gaijin or Nihonjin who are at home, more or less, in always busy, often baffling Japan. I noted that I had been reading the column since I came and now that it was mine, I couldn't be happier. That has never changed.