The Monday Read: Indifferent Jest
I didn’t mean to upset anyone I was a bit surprised at quite how many upset, disappointed, and congratulatory messages I received following our April 1st blog post. Sadly I have not found a wealthy corporate buyer for the site and community, and will have to keep inflicting my scribblings on you for another year. […]
The Monday Read: Spring is in the air
Would be great if it weren’t for the pollen Super nice weather these last few days here in Sendai once that wind died down. We’re in the last few days of the year now. New hires will be starting work, kids will be going into the next year in school, some people will be retiring. […]
The Monday Read: An Unexpected Pardon
Life is suddenly much much better Accompanied my wife on her latest hospital visit to get the results of some tests this week, and… it seems like she is going to be okay. I can’t describe how much my life changed in just a few minutes. 2025, all is forgiven. RetireJapan TV RetireJapan TV will […]
The Monday Read: New Challenges
Goals give you something to look forward to I’ve always enjoyed having goals. Something to work towards, something to look forward to, a way to push myself to do a little bit more than I might have otherwise. So of course I have set, not one, but three new goals after coming back from the […]
The Monday Read: Finding a New Path
Take a step to the side and breathe I took this photo in Surrey by taking a couple of steps off a rather busy road. I think there might be some kind of metaphor there. RetireJapan TV RetireJapan TV will be back on March 17th from 20:00. We’ll be talking about side hustles/part-time jobs in […]
The Monday Read: The Last of the Lemons
Now it’s just getting silly I was in Belfast in Northern Ireland briefly this week, for the first time. Nice place, but I wish it had been under different circumstances. And then, the evening of my first full day there, I got food poisoning or norovirus (the latter seems more likely). Really felt like the […]
The Monday Read: More Lemons
I’m getting tired of trying to make lemonade 2025 is really trying its best to defeat me. Have an unexpected trip to Europe this week, hence the lack of new content here on the blog and on YouTube this week. Apologies. I’ll be back in early March and hopefully get back into the swing of […]
The Monday Read: Toyota has no cars
Manufacturing issues, incompetence, or a cunning plan? We have four grandkids in Sendai now (and two abroad) so my wife has decided she wants to get a minivan. I had to agree, even though they are not my favourite class of car. Recently we took a ski trip to Appi with one(!) grandchild, and we […]
The Monday Read: Myaku Myaku Fever
Is the Osaka Expo going to be a huge bust? I saw the other day that the Osaka Expo is starting in less than three months. Is anyone planning to go? The website to buy tickets is a complicated mess (you need to book in order to enter a lottery in order to book?). I […]
The Monday Read: The future of Japan
Is likely to be different to how it is now Just spent a few days at Appi Ski Resort in Iwate with my wife and granddaughter. We’ve been coming here for a few years now and there have been some massive changes during that time. The first big one was when the hotels were rebranded […]