CrossCurrents Archive

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.
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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...
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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...
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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!"
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 . . .
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“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.
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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...
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Why Nikkei Seniors Are “10 Years Younger” than Seniors in Japan Things We Can Be Grateful For

Posted on December 14, 2010 | No Comments
As we end 2010 and get ready to usher in the new year (how time flies!), I wanted to share a happy topic with readers. “We Nikkei seniors are generally...
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Do Japanese Tend to Think There’s One Standard English?

Posted on November 8, 2010 | No Comments
After Japan, through her high economic growth period, joined the ranks of advanced nations and after the US and Canadian governments officially apologized and made some compensation in the late 1980s for their suffering in the past, Japanese North Americans have been able to live their lives without worrying too much about prejudice against Japanese culture for some time now. I wonder how many Japanese words still remain in their English, and whether new words have been adopted. There must be many readers who have first-hand knowledge.
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