Anime and manga may have opened the first door to Japan for me, but by college, my interest had already grown far beyond the media that started it. I was studying Japanese, going to Japan every year, and taking every … Continue reading Building a Life in Japan Was Harder Than Wanting One
I don’t remember the exact moment a friend handed me a copy of Fruits Basket in sixth or seventh grade. I just remember what happened after… I went completely down a rabbit hole of Japanese manga and anime. Before that, I had … Continue reading The Life I Built in Japan Started With a Manga
Recently, I saw a post from a fellow American living in Japan where she said she had no desire to assimilate into Japanese society. At first, I was confused. I had always believed that when you choose to live in … Continue reading I Built a Life in Japan. That Doesn’t Mean I Stopped Being American
“Were you running away from something when you decided to move to Japan?” It’s one of those questions that catches me a little off guard, not because I find it offensive, but because I understand why people ask it. When … Continue reading “Were You Running Away From Something When You Moved to Japan?”
Back in February 2019, I wrote a blog post about a question I used to get all the time: “When are you moving back home?” I went back and reread that post recently, and it felt a little strange reading … Continue reading “When Are You Moving Back Home?” — 7 Years Later
One of the most interesting things about living in Japan long-term is watching how differently people experience it. Two people can land in Tokyo on the same day, stay for the same amount of time, and leave with completely different experiences, … Continue reading Same Country, Different Trips: The Many Types of Experiences and Travelers to Japan
I always end up having the most unexpected conversations when I’m getting my nails done or talking with my personal trainer. Recently, while sitting in the nail chair, my nail tech brought up Johnny’s because she remembered how big of … Continue reading Letting the Music Stay, Letting the Fantasy Go – The Day I Realized I Let Go of all Parasocial Relationships
I’ve lived in Japan for 13 years, and one of the things I’ve heard over and over is that it’s hard to form connections with Japanese people—or that many only want to be friends to practice English. While that can happen, I’ve … Continue reading The Quiet Relationships That Come With Long-Term Life in Japan
For years, I was deep in the Johnny’s fandom (now known as Starto). Like, watching every TV show, buying concert goods, memorizing choreography kind of deep. I even wrote my MBA thesis on it — I was so passionate and wanted to know … Continue reading When the Curtain Falls: Thoughts on Parasocial Relationships and Why I Drifted Away from Johnny’s
I was introduced to Green Rider by my best friend, whom I lived with for a very long time. She is and always will be a reader, and every time books would come up her face lit up, followed by … Continue reading The Green Rider Series by Kristen Britain: A Classic Journey into Epic Fantasy
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