RSS Feed

About Author: Masaki Watanabe

Website: http://

Posts by Masaki Watanabe

The Difference Between Travelling Solo and Travelling Alone

Posted on April 2, 2012 | No Comments
‘Life is a journey,’ or so they say. This is not just in the metaphysical sense, I believe. It is also about our actual physical movements over the years from one country, city or locality to another, and even about short family holidays or business trips.
Continue Reading...
The Kids Are Now on Their Own – Sentiments of a Parent “Left Behind”

Posted on February 12, 2012 | No Comments
A little while ago, I came across a certain work of art in a magazine, checked it out on YouTube and was extremely moved. It took me several days to...
Continue Reading...
Why I Like Michael J. Fox Even More

Posted on January 13, 2012 | No Comments
I’ve always liked actor Michael J. Fox, from long before I moved here from Singapore back in 1997, because of his personality that I perceived in his TV sitcom (Family Ties 1982-89) and movies (e.g. Back to the Future trilogy 1985-90) characters. There was this savvy but personable air about him that I found particularly engaging.
Continue Reading...
How I Love “Them Taxi Drivers!” Anecdotes from years past in many cities

Posted on November 30, 2011 | No Comments
As the year 2011 draws to a close—and how quick it was!—and 2012 is about to begin, I thought I’d zoom out of the usual realm of “issues concerning our...
Continue Reading...
Mixed Marriages & How to Enjoy Life in Canada

Posted on November 7, 2011 | No Comments
In today’s Canada, especially in a mutli-racial environment like greater Vancouver, mixed marriages involving Nikkei Canadians and ijusha are nothing unusual.?A year ago I reported in this column that more...
Continue Reading...
CrossCurrents

Posted on October 3, 2011 | No Comments
Bent on some crazy mission to save that fleeting illusion, if only for naïve, dream-struck kids, yours truly must confess here and now to having resorted once or twice to the “urban-guerrilla-street-art-like” tactic of quickly and surreptitiously transferring that ugly placard from the seat to the top of the piano. Apparently someone (a security guy?) does check, because once I casually sauntered by later to look, and the placard had been put back on the seat, as if to proclaim: “We’re in charge here!"
Continue Reading...
What’s In A Name? Different Ways the “East and West” Handle it in Daily Life and Business

Posted on June 9, 2011 | No Comments
Peoples of all races must, I would assume, customarily attach a lot of importance to personal names—usually a surname and given name (though not in all cultures, e.g. the Javanese...
Continue Reading...
Japan’s Recovery: will a post-disaster generation take over from the post-war generation?

Posted on May 17, 2011 | No Comments
The massive destruction wrought by the great Tohoku earthquake of March 11 and the waves of tsunami it triggered, together with the risk of radioactive contamination due to damaged reactors...
Continue Reading...
Crosscurrents: “Ganbare Nippon” Now More Than Ever

Posted on April 13, 2011 | No Comments
This spring, as usual, the splendid cherry blossoms Vancouver is famous for adorn our streets and parks. But this time, their beauty brings out all the more the sadness we...
Continue Reading...
Deteriorating Vernacular of The Young Can’t Handle Abstract Thought.

Posted on March 9, 2011 | No Comments
Have you ever had the experience of trying to explain to non-Nikkei friends words like gaman, ganbaru, shikataganai—common Japanese expressions . . .
Continue Reading...
“Open Letter” to Son Studying in Japan: Things I Must Tell You …Though You (Think) You’ve Heard ’em All

Posted on February 18, 2011 | 1 Comment
And, this you’ve heard me say before, Japan is a very densely-layered ancient society with rich culture (e.g. variety of food) with strongly-held, complex values with constant, built-in pressure toward conformity that sometimes works in unfathomable ways. I’ve watched sensitive foreigners who want to gain acceptance, including those who are racially Japanese, even start seeing things and thinking like a Japanese without quite realizing it themselves.
Continue Reading...
Of Ramen, Japanese Major Leaguers and the “Face of Japan” to the Outside World—Topics That May Loom Large in the Year 2011

Posted on January 10, 2011 | No Comments
Akemashite omedetoo gozaimasu. As we begin the year 2011, I pondered which topics might emerge this year that might be of general interest to us in the Nikkei/ijusha community, particularly...
Continue Reading...