DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS?

Dane: Tomorrow’s the 29th. I hear we’ve got the day off.
Yuji: Yes, it’s a national holiday.
Dane: What holiday is it?
Yuji: Uh, I don’t know.
Dane: Well, I’m sure the Japanese aren’t celebrating Obama’s 100th day in office. So, can anybody tell me what holiday April 29th is?
Reiko: It’s Greenery Day.
Dane: But [...]

A JAPANESE VIEWPOINT

Sumie Tsumatori is an old friend who has some strong ideas about a lot of things; a quality not often associated with Japanese people in general or Japanese women in particular. To show that such people do exist in Japan, I have rescued her latest remarks from the obscurity of the comment section to [...]

TENNO HEIKA, BANZAI!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AKIHITO!
Japan’s Emperor celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday today.
Every Japanese I asked said they would not give one thought to their monarch on this national holiday – more than a few didn’t even know they had the day off in his honor! So does that mean the Japanese public is in favor of turning [...]