My wife says I am a professional shufu. Even though I do not really have proper training and often I feel like a true beginner. But of course I am a beginner – everything here in Japan is so different from what I am used to from Sweden. But at the same time it is …
Ok, it was inevitable that someday I would write about my number one complaint with Japan (come to think of it I actually have a few, but let me focus on this one for now). It was inevitable and apparently today is that day. In the train station there is a new commercial for washing machines …
Japanese is a difficult language. Even easy things have a tendency to end up being difficult. My wife says that I like to complicate things, that I am happy when I do, but I feel rather more happy when I manage not to. I think. Which is not that often. (Maybe this means my wife …
Autumn is my favourite season in Japan. Cool mornings and beautiful air. And the autumn colors – I love going to the mountains in autumn. Well, I always like to go to the mountains, I would love to live in the mountains, but especially so during autumn. There is something liberating walking on a mountainside …
When does something become a habit? After one time? Hardly. Two times? Three? Five or ten? Does it even matter? Not really I think – it is all about feelings. So when I feel like it has become a habit to every night prepare the rice for the morning. And then in the morning make …
It is a tough life, being a salaryman in Tokyo. Crowded commuting, long working days, short holidays… And being a woman you are often supposed to wear high heels all day as well, my wife tells me. Not a day goes by (maybe a slight exaggeration, but I indulge myself) when I do not on …
Never more. Today was a nevermore-day, a day I only want to forget. And at the same time a day I really need to remember. Nevermore-days I have reluctantly come to find, are the steppingstones towards a future where I am trying to renew myself, to become a hopefully better version of the human I …
Today is Emperor Naruhito’s coronation day. This year is the start of a new era – Reiwa. Beautiful harmony seems to be the official explanation of the word Reiwa, 令和. Today is the Emperors coronation day and we are at home celebrating nine weeks of pregnancy. Reiwa. The customs of Japan – I find them fascinating. Even …
There is something very meditative in the process of rinsing rice; it is like time slows down, just me and the bowl, experiencing the cold water between my fingers, letting the rice rattle around, feeling the grains touching my skin. And repeating the process, rinse wash rinse – there is something very meditative about rinsing …
My grandmother would have been 100 years old today; how she would have loved to know about the transformation of my life. So much that has changed. So much to be happy about. Don’t forget to be happy too, I keep saying to myself. Early morning we went to our new hospital, and for the …
Today is one of those days. A bad dream is followed by a bad morning – how many times per week is ok to have fish when you are pregnant? And then a discussion where neither of us feel closeness. Feel good. My wife blames morning sickness – I am blaming the typhoon. At least we are …
Sometimes a miracle happens. Sometimes, where there was one, there is now two – meeting my wife was just like that. Suddenly, in the amount of time it takes to bow and think that I need to escape, suddenly, in the seconds it takes to feel that if I give in to my fear now …