I walk a very fine generational line, being an early (older) member of Gen X. For many years, though, my admiration of new tech was tempered with poverty. My father’s…
Latest posts
New Year Joy
Although few people in Japan observe the ceremonial end of the New Year holiday, 鏡開き (kagamibiraki) and 小正月 (koshōgatsu) falls between the 11th and 15th of January and it concludes…
Christmas in Japan
There’s been some drama. As 2022 careens to its chaotic climax, I hit a wall in my own writing. I was wisely advised to take a break and to focus…
My Favorite Story
23 November 2022 It had been a strange year since I kicked my ex, Nori, out of my apartment in Okegawa at the end of 1992. Desperate for a relationship…
Homophobia in Japan
6 November 2022 As I work on revisions to my memoir, I recall how often I was surprised by the level of homophobia I encountered in Japan (and which remains…
It’s a Sin
24 October 2022 Hiro and I ventured out to a big concert a week and a half ago. The opening act was the DJ Paul Oakenfold, and the headliners were…
Fortunate Ones
11 October 2022 I stopped taking horoscopes seriously when, as a teenager, I learned that a Capricorn’s favorite colors were supposed to be green and black. WRONG. My colors are…
To the Next World
29 September 2022 CW: a brief discussion of teenage suicide thoughts I attended a writers’ conference last weekend and one of the interesting takeaways I had was a new awareness…
Colors of the Wind
19 September 2022 Colors and the names Japanese people know them by reflect a minimum of three different sources over time. Those different sources are easy to identify. And from…
One Ringy-Dingy
9 September 2022 How do you combine a Japanese love of number-based wordplay and the gay male urge to cruise with pre-Internet, pre-cellphone technology? The answer for Japan in the early 1990s? You let…