A news

Karoushi (death from overwork), which is a pronoun of Japanese society, is not yet a legend.
Some companies have not paid to the workers' families (news, MSN Japan). This awaked the Japanese version of myself.
I think, to know social problems in the society of both of one's origin and new culture. I think this is how we establish our identity.
P.S. I added some points on the past posting on wedding.

Intercultural medical information

Some of Japanese websites about scientific information is not really credible, I think. In the sense that they use language like, "There is little possibility to transmit the virus/to suffer from the disease" (translated from Japanese). What does "little" mean??? People tend to translate these words in the way they like... In contrast, US documents use numbers such as "--% of the carriers have the possibility to transmit the virus""--% of the carriers have had the disease per year." This was a culture shock about my own culture.

transition to what??

In Japan, there was a social problem that divorced women could not have sufficient financial support, even though they did all housework and parenting for their husband. It is because men usually take legal ownership on properties. But the low changed and women also have the rights for the property. Though I won't be a house wife, it is a good news because it's sad to see old ladies in tragedies and could be a bad news for men, if they get lazy wives. In Japan, relationships between husband and wife used to be more clear-cut. After the change of the low, I guess situations will be more complicated and the divorce rate will increase. Men might want women to share more costs to support their family (As a background knowledge, it was common that men pay everything if the wife is a housewife). But some people say if a woman was financially more independent, there might be less reasons for her to look for a husband hard... Women might become to care not only husbands' financial power but also appearance, etc. (?), though there were old saying means "A husband does not have to have good appearance". Also, we could say if a woman doesn't work hard or make money, it's gonna be hard for her to have a husband. Would this situation make men and women fair? Or does any woman still love to be a bird in a cage?

Anthropology 001

Though I am not sure there is a class called that,
What I'm lately trying is to be an anthropologist in everyday life, though sometime I react like, "What the hell???" Whatever happens, I would react like, "Oh really? ...OK....(?)...Alright.........................That might be cool!"

Miso soup

My apology, I'm always complain about things... So, today, let me write about how to make miso soup.
1. Put a piece of kelp (konbu) into the water in the pot. (for 3-4 serving)
2. Just before the water boils, take the kelp off from the water.
3. Put a fistful of dried and sliced bonito (katsuobushi) into the water and take it off after 1 min.
4. Add vegitable, tofu, or whatever you like into the pot and boil a little while.
5. Add 3-4 spoon of miso (soy bean paste), and taste it. If you need more, add more.
If you have more question about Japanese food, let me know! I know how to cook traditional foods!

Thriller in US #1

I have not really been scared with gun shots here in Los Angeles. Let me talk about an issue which I have discussed with people from Japan many times but not with people here.
Thriller in US #1
There are some black holes where papers fall into when some documents are processed.
Actually, a lot of documents are lost, at least according to what people around me say. A strategy is to save a copy. The other is to mail same documents twice. Do you have something to feel about this issue? Is this something matter-of-cause? Or do you have any better strategies? Opinions wanted!

Thriller in Japan #1

Though I love my home country,
Thriller in Japan 1
Sometime, a couple has to invite somebody they have not talked to for a long time to an expensive wedding...
(note: In weddings, there is a rule that one table should not have certain number of people. To make up wrong number, the couple has to invite somebody who they are not really familiar with. If this rule are strictly kept, brides and grooms might feel so much pressure to prepare thier weddings. Nowadays, people are more liberal about weddings.) Question, comment, or objection wanted! To be continued...

Hi, how're you?

"Sleepy mew..."
She is a therapist cat to relax you.

"Living rooms are common places"

Yes, everyone knows this here in US.
It took sometime for me to get used to suddenly meet somebody I don't know in the living room, because room sharing is not really common in Japan (In other East Asian countries too? Im not sure.). Still if this is the way it is here in US, I will take it a good idea.
In a situation that people meet somebody they don't know in the living room, some people easily get scared like one of my room mates (Room mate A, he is also from Asia). When another roommate (roommates B, he is born and raised in US and also my friend)'s friends are in living room and met each other, roommate A went mad and called to the owner, like "Who the hell he is???" Room mate B was disappointed to his reaction, because he felt his friend was discriminated. Though there were actually another factors for he made phonecall to the owner, this situation made me a little tired to handle. What do you think about this kind of situation?