Tsukuba Monogatari: 30th post The subject of women drivers came up at lunch the other day in a conversation related to the weather. The unusual snowfall last Thursday made traffic conditions quite hazardous, and claimed David’s car (among others) as a statistic. Although it only snowed one day, it was cold enough that the snow […]
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Author: Ruth Sasaki
R. A. Sasaki is the author of The Loom and Other Stories (Graywolf Press, 1991). She is a third-generation San Franciscan (although she now lives in the East Bay).
Snow country
Tsukuba Monogatari: 29th post So much for my credibility. I had told Randy, “It doesn’t snow in Tsukuba – we just get frost on the ground some mornings.” I woke up this morning and everything was white. My car was completely camouflaged under three inches of soft, powdery snow. My first thought was, “They can’t […]
New guy on the block
Tsukuba Monogatari: 28th post Randy’s here. He’s my replacement. I collected him from the Hotel Sun Route to give him a whirlwind tour of Tsukuba by car. It took about ten minutes. “Did you see all the sights?” Jennifer asked when we picked her up for dinner. “Well, we saw the city center, and The […]
Okaerinasai (Welcome back)
Tsukuba Monogatari: 27th post Well, here we are back in Tsukuba (Jennifer and I both went home for the holidays and returned on the same flight). The flight was an hour late and ten-and-a-half hours long. We saw two movies, one of which you’d have to be strapped into your seat on a ten and […]
Seating arrangements
Tsukuba Monogatari: 26th post Yokota-san, who had been in one of the first groups trained in the U.S., attended my send-off. Yokota-san may have been a classic example of style-switching gone awry. I was never able to determine whether his abrasiveness was innate or a misguided effort to adopt a more Western style, and all […]
The truth about “form”
Tsukuba Monogatari: 25th post Until I had lunch with Yamazaki-san and Koizumi-san the other day, I had always thought it was the value that Japanese place on “form” that makes them want to mark beginnings and endings, comings and goings. You may die of loneliness in between, but you will be properly welcomed when you […]
Marui Christmas, Seibu Season
Tsukuba Monogatari: 24th post For the longest time I thought Tsukuba was truly the incarnation of the Western, rational city, a kind of Santa Clara plunked down in the middle of the Kanto Plain. I had almost given up hope of finding anything remotely Japanese about the place. No train station. No schoolchildren in uniforms […]
Leaving works
Tsukuba Monogatari: 23rd post There must be a Murphy’s Law to account for this phenomenon: Just as you enter the homestretch, and you think you won’t possibly be able to finish all your reports, feedback meetings, Christmas shopping, packing, etc., in time to get onto your plane – everyone in the world suddenly wants to […]
How to have a one-on-one with a Japanese...
Tsukuba Monogatari: Twenty-second post I requested a one-on-one with Morita-san, Marketing Communications Manager, who is sending a subordinate to our U.S. training next year. He had stated in a written questionnaire that he expected the training to give Uno-san “a complete understanding of U.S.-Japan trade issues” – so I thought I’d better have a little […]
How to survive karaoke (or bonenkai, par...
Tsukuba Monogatari: Twenty-first post Sing “Love Me Tender” as a duet with a Japanese man who has a loud voice, and lip synch. “Love Me Tender” requires a vocal range of about 3 notes and is mercifully short. Sing early. That way, you can get it over with and enjoy the rest of the evening […]