Imagine that somewhere off the coast of South Carolina there was a tiny, isolated island and it was actually a borough of New York City. Crazy right? Well, here in Tokyo this actually exists. Hachijo is the southern-most island in the Izu Peninsula; it is officially part of Tokyo, but juts magnificently out of the Philippine …
The first time I went to the fish bar, I watched a middle-aged salary man take a seat at the bustling counter. He took out a pack of cigarettes and lighter, loosened his tie, rolled his neck and shoulders working out the kinks of the day. He gazed around the room reading the specials, scrutinizing …
The reports from NY have been of freezing temperatures, thick snow, fog and general unpleasantness. On the other hand, winter here in Tokyo has been a mild affair so far. When the sun goes down, it gets chilly, a few nights dipping below zero. But in general, I have been greeted by blue skies almost …
I have some eaten some pretty gross things in my life. In Jamaica I have been served both Mannish water (Goat head and innards soup) as well as Cow Cod (bull penis) soup. Mannish water was really one of the worst things I have ever tasted — basically an old billy-goat reduced to weird tubes, …
Harajiku’s Takeshita Dori is the nexus of Shibuya’s sprawling Teenager Land. Walking the street as a middle-aged guy, you feel like an ancient, moss-covered boulder in a river of selfie-taking youth. This is where high school kids gather, preen, flirt, go on dates, shop and eat cheap foods. Tokyo being Tokyo, there is a corollary …
New Years Eve and Halloween. Two holidays that have never really been my favorites. (Of course as a child who was not allowed to have candy, Halloween was pretty much the greatest day on earth as I could “legally” eat a Snickers bar and no one could yell at me.) I guess, I don’t love …
I will not lie. I thought I was going to be the single greatest father of all time. The Father of all Fathers like some sort of mystical combination of Ward Cleaver, Mr. Rogers and Vito Corleone. I was going to be better than my own wonderful father. I was going to avoid the (rather …
