American arrested in Japan for kidnapping own kids

By SHINO YUASA (AP) – 2 hours ago

TOKYO — An American father on a mission to reclaim his young children in Japan was arrested over their alleged abduction while they were walking to school with his ex-wife, officials said Wednesday.
Christopher John Savoie snatched his two children — an 8-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl — by force Monday in the southern city of Fukuoka, shoved them into a car and drove away, said Akira Naraki, a police spokesman in the city.
He was arrested by Japanese police as he tried to enter the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka with the children, said Tracy Taylor, a spokeswoman at the consulate. Read more here.....

Table etiquette for formal dinners in Japan

When was the last time..........

 

here is a pair of size 28.0 barely worn 

jikatabi, ......any takers?

Going now to the highest bidder.

I Am From Nagoya

The Class of 1970 Announces a Party in Chicago in 2010

Click on the pictures to enlarge for easy reading

Call Bobby Howe at 949.837.0838 or

email Bobby at robert.howe@aa.com

for more information or an English conversation

How do you keep up with what's going on in Japan?

Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009

By LOUISA CHAN

Erin Ruttan, 36
Chef (Australian)
The Internet is really useful for discovering good restaurants and events around Tokyo. Word of mouth is also good. I've gotten lots of good tips from friends and colleagues.

Jarkko Vanhala, 22
Security guard (Finnish)
I occasionally read the newspaper to find out what's happening in Japan. I read a bit about the recent election. I don't watch the news because I can't understand Japanese well.

Kym Ruttan, 33
Restaurateur (Australian)
There needs to be more information for tourists and expats living in Japan. Some of the free magazines are good, but distribution is limited to mostly central Tokyo.

Hubert Cleonis, 35
Engineer (French)
There's a very good site, Autrement le Japon, which has lots of useful information about Japan. Some Japanese volunteer to show foreigners around, and they can be contacted there.

Danielle Goodwin, 22
Sales rep. (New Zealander)
I've been here for three weeks and I really like Metropolis magazine. I found my accommodation through it. It's got lots of information about shows, concerts, antique markets and festivals.

Lawrence Medina, 23
Student (American)
I usually read the newspaper or check the news online. I use the Japan Today site quite often. For cultural events, I usually ask my friends about what's happening around Tokyo.

A Blast From The Past or The Way We Were

Linda Guzzo & Ken Nielsen long ago in the land of Oz

'Charisma Man' makes comeback in Japan

Two writers are reviving a comic that pokes fun at Western men who move to Asia and use their novelty status to pursue easy thrills.

By JOHN M. GLIONNA, Los Angeles Times

Last update: September 12, 2009 - 10:34 PM

TOKYO
From his window seat in the Roppongi bar district, Neil Garscadden eyes an exotic street parade: the reggae-styled hipsters, the Nigerian nightclub hawkers, the soft-stepping geishas, the secretaries in miniskirts and impossibly heavy eye shadow.
The nuances of the scene, Garscadden insists, would be lost on a mere tourist.
This, he says, is a job for Charisma Man.
With his blue eyes, tousled blond hair and foreign passport, Charisma Man is a sake-sipping man about town, suavely negotiating the intricacies of Japanese culture. Women adore him. Men respect, even fear, him. Life in the East bends to his every whim.
"It's great to be a Western guy in Asia," he says. "I've got lots of money, chicks dig me -- everybody respects me."
Well, not everybody.

Read the whole story here.....

Guide to International Schools in Japan

 

 How many times have you heard people talking about finding a “good school” for their kids? But what exactly does “good” mean? Is it a school where average test scores are high? Perhaps it means one that has lots of extracurricular activities and student support. Or maybe a school with a really challenging curriculum? In all likelihood, it’s some mixture of these and other qualities. But if the formula for a good school is so complicated, how will parents ever know which school meets their needs?

That’s the question behind Guide to International Schools in Japan, the new book by bestselling author and publisher Caroline Pover. Covering over 100 schools, the guide weighs in at an encyclopedic 659 pages.

NEWS RELEASE FROM UNION CHURCH OF LOS ANGELES (7/21/09):

Union Church, a dual denominational church of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ, is seeking a head of staff pastor who will oversee a bilingual congregation (English and Japanese), but with primary responsibility for the English segment of the congregation.  The focus is to reach the English-speaking multi-ethnic people who have moved into the Downtown area.  Weekly contemporary worship services are conducted in partnership with Bel Air Presbyterian Church.  Union Church is seeking a pastor who is a strong biblically based preacher, teacher, one who acts as a resource person, is supportive, and leads by example.  Church prefers a pastor who is able to communicate in Japanese.

UNION CHURCH OF LOS ANGELES
401 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213)629-3876
http://www.unionchurchla.org/

If interested, please contact Rev. June Boutwell, Interim Associate Conference Minister of UCC at (909) 797-1821 or houtwell@scncucc.org: or Rev. Linda Culbertson, General Presbyter, Presbytery of the Pacific, at (310) 670-5076 or LCulbertson@pacificpresbytery.org.

From the People at Work Vault: Tuna Testers

A few years ago, we spent a day with Erika Jones and Vahan Serpekian at Chicken of the Sea's headquarters in Mira Mesa for our People at Work series.

Videographer Layla Wu with our friends at the Media Arts Center just visited with the tuna testers and put together a couple of videos. This first one is Vahan Serpekian, a decades-long veteran of the tuna industry. Watch a bit more about his fascinating history:

And here's Erika Jones, who'd been with the company for less than a year when I met her. She's been checking the quality of the company's products ever since:

The Media Arts Center is producing video shorts to go alongside some of our stories, and it's hoping to catch up with more People at Work subjects soon.

-- KELLY BENNETT

Death row inmates treated cruelly in Japan

Japan Herald ~Thursday 10th September, 2009

Death row prisoners in Japan have been driven toward insanity by harsh conditions.

Human rights group Amnesty International has reported a total of 102 prisoners face execution in Japan.

Many of the death row prisoners have spent decades in near isolation, creating severe mental illness for many of them.

Death row prisoners are not allowed to speak to other inmates.

They are not allowed to move around their cells and must remain seated.

Amnesty has claimed the treatment has made many of the prisoners delusional.

The group has also complained that the Japanese have a practice of informing prisoners only a few hours before execution is carried out.

With the imposition of the death penalty on mentally ill people prohibited throughout the world, Amnesty has called on Japan to immediately halt all executions.

It has also asked for police interrogation reform in a country where criminal trials have a 99% conviction rate.