matcha with me…

Answers To The Lord’s Prayer09.06.12

It struck me a while back as I was driving the hour and forty minutes between where I live and where I work that the Lord is answering my attempts to pray the Lord’s Prayer. In particular, the phrase lead …

Moving Mt. Fuji? Moonshots?02.24.12

A few years ago, I found a paperback book on the sale rack, a bit dog-eared, but still a good read. Thus began my relationship with How Would You Move Mount Fuji? by Richard Poundstone . (He’s recently published Are …

Tagged : cultural change, hope, How would you move Mt. Fuji?, Japan/US, moonshots, technology

I Like My Fiction To Be True02.22.12

“I like my fiction to be true,” was a memorable quote I heard recently. Whether recently coined or borrowed from another source, it stuck with me. A few days ago I grabbed a book quickly on my way out the …

Japanese Ads In The Trains02.02.12

I love looking at Japanese advertisements in the trains. While roadside billboards tend to be short on words, train audiences are temporarily captive which allows for different strategies.  There are often more words, and sometimes slightly more sophisticated nuances than …

Nothing Profound, Just The Ordinary01.06.12

Today I marveled over the technological contrasts in my daily life. As I hung up my laundry around 9 this morning in the frigid morning air, I enjoyed the blue sky laced with wispy clouds. Unlike the Japan seacoast, or …

The River And A Duck11.21.11

Today on my walk the river and a duck taught me a few things. This river is really tiny, hardly deserving of the title “river,” or so a friend announced to me a few months ago. “That’s a river? Why, …

Another Find Among The Leaves11.08.11

Last week I ended up with two unexpected free days. We had planned to go as a family to Nagano to enjoy the fall colors and be together.  We do live under the same roof and try to eat meals …

Autumn Is…10.27.11

「読書の秋、食欲の秋、スポーツの秋」

Autumn is for Reading, Eating, and Sports. The first fall I was here, the above phrase caught my attention. Perhaps it grabbed me since fall, books, and food have always been favorites. I don’t do much with sports these …

What’s This?09.28.11

The day before the earthquake I went downtown with a friend to buy Japanese washi paper. The store was amazing; two floors packed floor to ceiling with washi of every color and design imaginable. In addition to paper for covering …

Conformity and Individuality09.14.11

Two Sundays a month I help with a small Japanese church in Gunma, and the other Sundays I attend a large international church (KBF) with my kids here in Tokyo.  The contrasts are pretty startling: the Japanese church usually has …

Ansgar09.01.11

Sorry for the long silence. Life gets in the way of writing, though there wouldn’t be much to write about without it. I’m back, so come visit if you’re not too put off by the summer (blogging) blank.

June and …

Two Trips To Tohoku05.26.11

I believe I am the first “guest poster” to this blog. Andrea asked if I (Tim) would be willing to write a bit about my experiences in traveling to Tohoku last month. Both trips were a chance to help in …

For Lack Of A Pack04.19.11

Life is pretty normal in Tokyo though stores are still running a few shortages of items which are grown or manufactured along the northern Pacific coast of Japan. Although some of these shortages are due to lack of the product …

All Glory, Laud, And Honor04.18.11

On Palm Sunday I was at a large international church with my kids. As the regal cadence of strings playing  “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” to the tune of St. Theodulph filled the air, my chest tightened with memories of …

4/11 Earthquake Update04.11.11

This afternoon, almost timed with the one month anniversary of the earthquake, the wind picked up, the sky darkened, rain poured, and uncharacteristically, thunder and lightning crashed in the dark sky above Tokyo. When I picked up my son from …