Suki Kirai wa Damae desu yo. Or, To Like or Dislike is Not Allowed

How I wish that I had photocopied, or otherwise gathered evidence of, the sign with the above motto that I saw plastered up around a Japanese elementary school.  Underneath the motto was a cartoon of two children eating their school dinners.  One of them was visibly baulking at a food item included in the dinner, [...]

Yumiko’s Oden

In a Japanese autumn, I recall well, the steamy scent of oden permeates the flourescent-lit atmosphere of 7-11s.  The pieces of oden are kept hot floating in a large metal vat of murky liquid.  If you dare to approach the vat, and peer through the thick steam for a better look you will mostly see [...]