Aug 7, 2002 | Commentary, Culture
Right, so the Health Check the other day was utterly ridiculous. 2nd graders playing doctor could have performed a more revealing inspection than these “doctors.” The only thing the 2nd graders would have lacked was the 400 year-old X-ray machine in the...
Jul 22, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma
Only in Japan by Fukuma Fletch Hair Flap Correspondant Inkans I’m going to let everyone in on a little known fact about daily life in Japan: no one uses signatures to sign anything. In fact, no one in Japan “signs” anything. So how do the Japanese people identify...
Apr 16, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma
Only in Japan Blistering Social Commentary by Fukuma Fletch Soba Noodles The other day my girlfriend Mihoko invited my friend Gareth and me to join her and her friend for an excursion to a local soba (noodle) restaurant. I thought it sounded like a good idea. It was...
Apr 6, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma
The boundless enthusiasm that is apparently engendered by reading Hair Flap, has apparently infected my friend, co-worker and fellow Portlandian, Fletcher.He’s still far too lazy to start his own site, so instead he’ll be making regular contributions to...
Mar 25, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma
I have recently become aware of yet another fascinating aspect of Japanese culture. In this case, by “fascinating” I mean “downright annoying.” It seems that every year there is a routine shifting of personnel within most government...
Mar 15, 2002 | Commentary, Culture, Fukuma, Photography
The school year works a little different in Japan. The main difference seems to be in how the breaks are. In the U.S. we get a few really big breaks (Christmas, summer, spring), while in Japan, they get an absolute ton of little breaks. Every time I turn around...
