Author Archives: anatol

Those who lived in Big Mikan know: come to Roppongi after half-year and you won’t recognize the place. Your favorite midnight ramen joint turned into massage parlor, the hamburger pit was torn down and replaced by a trendy steel-and-glass boutique, … Continue reading →

Easter was celebrated by Tokyo Orthodox community this Sunday. Lots of eggs were boiled, painted, blessed and eaten. Boiled and painted eggs along with baked Easter bread called kuliches (куличи) are used to break long fast. The colorful tradition dates … Continue reading →

It’s difficult to surprise those who spent in Japan couple of years. When you wake up to the sound of a loudspeaker chanting the same mantra thousand times while slowly approaching your house, you instantly know: election time has arrived. … Continue reading →

I was passing through small station in Tokyo suburbs when I spoted this stall selling umbrellas. As you can see, single umbrella goes for 300 yen or roughly 2.5 US dollars, while for two umbrellas you pay as little as … Continue reading →

I just went to a friend’s wedding. Since he is American and the bride is Japanese it wasn’t completely standard Japanese wedding ceremony. However it had most of elements of it. Here is the list of things you need to … Continue reading →

There is an expression in Japanese　 税金泥棒 (Zeikin Dorobou) which literally means Tax Thief. Or there is more polite expression 税金無駄使い (Zeikin Mudatzukai) which means One Who Wastes Taxes. Each time I go hiking to Okutama I remember this expression … Continue reading →

I stumbled into this album while cleaning my old harddisk. It’s only of marginal interest for those who didn’t work for Merrill’s Tokyo at that time. Bonenkai means Forget-the-year party in Japanese as oppose to Shinnenkai which is New Year … Continue reading →