Inner Muses

View of my old neighborhood of Sakuragaoka (桜丘) from the top of the new Shibuya Scramble Square building. It's now December 16, 2019 and I returned to the US on November 22nd. Here's a blog entry I wrote before leaving Japan back in September as I was coming to grips with the decision to return. ~~~ It's been more than a year since I last blogged. I guess I've been spending more time living than writing about living. :-) Well, that "just living" time in Japan is likely coming to an end very soon. What's ultimate dragging me back to the US, with much sadness and regret, is money. People say that living in Japan is expensive. It's really not true. What's driving me back is the unjust healthcare system of the US and the fact that I must provide US  healthcare insurance for my family. But you might ask, aren't you heading back because Japan is more expensive than the US? No. Taxes are higher in Japan for me than in the US. But, I ...

January 13-14, 2018. Delta Flight 167. Narita and Tokyo, Japan. This is it! I’m on the airplane and we’ve reached cruising altitude. I’m totally leaving on a jet plane and I really don’t know when I’ll be back again! OMG. The feeling is this exquisite blend of excitement and regret. What am I doing? And how can I not go? I am the arrow, released from the bow string; intention powering me towards my target. https://youtu.be/Na-G_Z5A9dU The flight went well with lots of sleep. I watched the new Netflix move "Bright" which was great.  Orcs, elves and LA police.  What's not to love?  The gentleman next to me was from NEC and showed me cool CES photos. Automatic clothes folding machines. :-) Then, it was time to land and my doctor's prediction about ear problems with my flu/cold bore true.  Ouch. But, Narita beckoned: I sent all my luggage ahead to my temporary housing, took the Narita Express to the Tokyo station and met Kinori on the Yamanote platfo...

When you create a multi-cultural family through the marriage of two people from very different heritages, you get to choose what kind of life to give your children. Do you choose one spouse's culture, or both, or none or something completely different? We choose both and we thought we coined the term Jewpanese (not!). Our kids were very busy. They attended Japanese school on Saturdays and Jewish school on Sundays. They are members of a very small set of people who answer "yes" to both questions: "Are you Japanese?" and "Are you Jewish?". That didn't just happen. It took work and commitment. It took negotiation, deciding what's in and what's out, and choosing to be together over all else. We wouldn't have it any other way and it creates amazing and unique opportunities. I do my best to support Yuriko passing on her ethnic identity to our kids. To be fair, I'm fascinated by all things Japanese, so it was no burden. Yuri...