Since leaving America August 2006, I have traveled to sixteen countries. A great deal has happened. This site is to share my thoughts, photos, music, writings, travel experiences, and developing political/social commentary with you. I hope you find it interesting and informative.
Again, it’s time to send some love to the wonderful fans of LIVE FROM JAPAN!
My my how time flies! LIVE FROM JAPAN! was published end of January, 2021. I sent the first shot of love here to the fans of the book June 2023, and again July 5, 2024. On those two occasions, as now, I let everyone know that the adventure continues, as I regularly post articles on new happenings and my evolving perspective on life here as an American expat.
While I believe my understanding of and appreciation for the customs and people of Japan is always growing in depth and subtlety, one thing has not changed: I love living here!
There’s no simple explanation for this. All I can suggest is read my book, then read the articles that have subsequently appeared. Judge for yourself..
Here is the entire list of “living in Japan” essays that have appeared on this website, to date:
All of those were written after this splendid book got published. My way of keeping you up to date and hopefully dazzled and delighted.
If you don’t have a copy, you have no idea what you’re missing. Time to remedy that. You can order it from your local book store or visit one of these sites:
Several months ago, this incongruous structure sprung up in a matter of a week. At first, I honestly thought it was an eyesore, contrasting dramatically with the rustic, traditional houses around it. It just didn’t seem to have any organic connection with the rice and bean fields, and vegetable gardens in our village.
But I’ve learned to accept it on its own terms. By some post-modern, pre-fab, industrial aesthetic, it is actually rather appealing.
Meaning, I surmised this operation was just some local entrepreneur making a fledgling effort to raise organic cotton, which I assumed he/she would sell to clothing manufacturers in Japan.
I had it all wrong. A few weeks ago, my wife Masumi and I attended the grand opening of Sasayama Cotton Base, the name of the “presence” here in our Noma Village.
There I met a gentleman named Dave Stewart — yes, I know, and the first thing he said to me was “I didn’t play in the Eurythmics” — who had come here from Osaka for the event. He was very familiar with Samurai Cotton Jeans and gave me the whole story, including what this big blue metal structure was all about.
It turns out that Samurai Jeans is a major corporation based in Osaka, and their jeans are sold all over Japan and worldwide online. They use organic cotton and traditional dying and weaving techniques. Most of the organic cotton is imported from the U.S. but some is grown right here in Japan. That’s where Sasayama Cotton Base comes in. Samurai Jeans can claim that they use locally grown organic cotton, and if you’re interested in visiting the cotton fields and familiarizing yourself with the process of preparing the denim, this is the place to do it!
Sasayama Cotton Base is a agritourism facility. You can stay in the blue building’s accommodations — sleeps 1 to 3 — then enjoy the calming quiet of rural life, while you learn first hand and hands-on about the cotton denim manufacturing process. There’s a cotton making building: “Divide the harvested cotton into seeds and fibers.” And a dyeing building: “Decide on a design and experience vegetable dyeing. Here, we will dye it using Tamba Sasayama black beans and Tamba chestnut dye.” Of course, there’s a shop for buying the products made from the work here.
Sasayama Cotton Base is certainly an interesting concept. It’s not intended to make money. In fact, from what I’ve observed, it probably loses money. I ride by the base every day on my bike and have never seen a visitor. The three or four fellows who work there are always glad to see me — probably glad to see anyone — wave enthusiastically and shoot me big smiles. Of course, whether the base itself make money is not the important thing. The important thing is the organic cotton grown here.
The number of people working on this project varies considerably. The core staff is maybe three. But sometimes I see several folks — men and women — working the field. As with all farming, most of this comes at the beginning and the end of the growth cycle.
What can I say? The excitement never lets up here!
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https:/jdrachel.com ]
Granted that China’s transformation from a poor country, sabotaged by exploitation and interference by Western nations in a destructive and nasty alliance with Japan, to a rich, sophisticated, technologically-advanced economic powerhouse, was at first imperceptibly slow. But in today’s fast-paced times, twenty years can make a big difference. A lot of Westerners, and I have to say from personal experience, most Japanese, have not kept up with the developments of their neighbor over the last two decades.
I was in Beijing in 2007. There was a lot of construction going on in preparation for the upcoming Olympic games. I was in Chengdu in 2009, a stopover on my way to Nepal. Again, I saw a lot of construction underway. But both of these major cities back then were still at the beginning stages of the rebirth of the country. It was old China with a hint of the new. The public restrooms were usually filthy. As bustling as both these mega metropolises were, I didn’t sense much enthusiasm or excitement.
So I guess it’s understandable that the old views and prejudices about China still dominate any discussion of what China is like now.
Straightforward and telling statistic: It took four decades but China has lifted 800 million people — that’s 56% of its population — out of extreme poverty. Can we say the same of the U.S.?
I’ve finished the interior of the new catio and can report that it has turned out to be a success. This kitties visit it several times a day — Jennifer (all white) spends the most time in it — relax both on the ground and the shelves, sniff the flowers, eat the wild grass, chase the occasional butterfly, and seem overall to enjoy being outdoors and being able to move around in their new playground.
This has been a fun project. I feel like I’ve done something special for our special companions. While there are too many predators where we live — a large bear was actually sighted just last night close to Benten Shrine, which is a short walk from our house — to let them run freely, they get a bit of “nature” and variation now.
