This may be a little late, but I still think it will be very useful info for some of you. I have gotten quite a few emails asking about the new Japanese residency management system for foreigners along with the Alien Registration Cards (ARCs). A fellow teacher of mine recently did a visa renewal and […]
As a foreigner who is still working on his Japanese, working in a Japanese public school can present some challenges from time to time. One such challenge is getting used to new, Japanese, school-related vocabulary. Were I teaching at American public school, I wouldn’t even give issues like this a second thought because English is […]
In our Japan Post Bank Account article, we looked at the form you need to fill out in order to get your bank account all squared away. During this process, there was one particular field that was asking for your birthday in imperial years. I never could really remember so with a little calculation, I […]
Summer is upon us here in the land of Rising, Scorching, Hot Sun. That endearing, humid heat that’s oh so characteristic of Japanese summer is starting. Granted is not as bad as it’s going to get, but we’ve had a couple of those “more humid than normal” days already. Today, it rained ever so lightly, […]
TEN JAPANESE MONOGATARI (物語) YOU SHOULD KNOW *The term Monogatari can mean legend, tale or story. There are days when I feel like I’m starting to learn more about Japanese culture and then there are others when I feel like “Donald, what the hell have you been doing for the last three years?!?” Today, I […]
This is a three-part interview that I did with my SUPER-TALENTED, elder sister, Erica Ash. I won’t talk to much about the details of the interview because I really want you to take a look, but needless to say Erica’s interview was true to form, you’re going to get some down-to-earth, knitty-gritty info about what […]