Discoveries from around the archipelago
Bear with my continued Okinawa obsession this week. I really don't know where it's coming from. It's enough to even make me trot off to the grocery store for some goya (bitter gourd) to make champuru (stir fry). If you've ever tasted goya, you know just how serious this obsession is becoming. 🙂 Anyway, in trying to... Continue Reading →
I'm having a bit of Okinawa nostalgia at the moment. No one is more surprised by this than me, as my three years on the island were not necessarily, to quote Dickens, "the best of times". Never terribly fond of the confines of the sweaty "rock", I've nevertheless been reflecting a lot on Japan's southernmost... Continue Reading →
Before I came to Japan, most of my knowledge of Japanese history revolved around ninja, samurai and a whole lot of Tokugawas. I was fairly familiar with the years surrounding World War II, and I had vague recollections of some prehistoric period called the Jomon Era mentioned in my Japanese language texts in college, but... Continue Reading →
