A Blog Post About Japan
Make the Japanese content happen!
So, I’m writing a blog about Japan. And I’m very excited to be presenting my first post. Welcome and thank you so much for stopping by.
I guess I should tell you a little about myself. First of all, my name is Nathan and I’m from New Zealand. My hometown is Wellington, which is the capital city. Wellington is at the southern end of the North Island.
I’ve been living in Japan since 2011. I’m on the Island of Shikoku which is the smallest of the four mainland islands of Japan. I’ve been living in Ehime Prefecture, which is well known for producing mikan (mandarin oranges). I spent the first few years living in Matsuyama, famous for Dogo Onsen, the inspiration for the onsen (public bathhouse) in Spirited Away.
More recently I’ve been living in Imabari, which is not really famous for anything internationally. But they are well-known within Japan for ship building and towel manufacturing. No, I’m being unfair. Imabari is well-known in the shipping world, and Imabari makes 60% of the towels made in Japan. It’s amazing to think that a few short years ago the ideas of shipbuilding and towel making wouldn’t have excited me at all.
My Writing
I’m an aspiring writer. Or perhaps I should say, I’m a writer who is aspiring to one day be paid for doing it. For this reason, I’d be very excited to hear from any writers who are either living in Japan, or are writing about Japan.
I’ve had one short story published in a New Zealand based literary journal named Headland. Here is the link to buy that volume, if you’re interested.
My Short Story – Wishful Thinking
And check out Headland below. They’re awesome.
I’ve also sold one short radio-play to the national broadcaster in New Zealand, Radio New Zealand. The play is called Urge and is about a father trying to come to terms with his intellectually disabled son’s natural urges.
I am currently a co-editor of i-news. I-news is a bi-lingual magazine about what is going on in the international community of Imabari. It is published by the International Centre here in Imabari. The Imabari City International Exchange Association, or ICIEA.
If you’re interested in checking out any of my other writing, or just want to learn more about me, please have a look at my About Page.
But, what is this Blog About?
What is this blog going to be about, Nathan?
Well that’s a good question, other Nathan. My ideas at the moment are things like:
Living in the Japanese countryside
Most blogs about Japan are written by people living in the big cities. I guess statistically, that’s just the way it falls. I live in Imabari which is a city of about 170,000 people. It would be a reasonably big city by New Zealand standards, but the locals here refer to it as the countryside. My house has rice fields on two sides, although I’m only a 15 minute bike ride to the central city.
Education in Japan
I’ve always been interested in education. I enjoy thinking and talking about education in Japan. Especially as it is so different from education in New Zealand. I believe that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has given Japan a bit of a wake-up call regarding the gap between their high reading and listening ability vs. their generally low speaking ability. Sweeping changes are being implemented in English education. So it’s an interesting time to be an English teacher here in Japan.
Working in an Eikaiwa (English Conversation School)
This is the work I do in Japan. It involves working for a company which gives English conversation lessons to both children and adults. It’s a bit different from being an ALT at a Japanese School. But of course both of these jobs come with their own rewards and challenges.
Creative Writing
I’d love to hear from any other writers. Especially writers in, or writing about, Japan. Have a look at examples of my writing and other creative stuff on my About Page.
Teaching English in Japan
Are you interested in teaching English in Japan? I’d like to share my experiences and knowledge, if it would be helpful to others. I’ve picked up a bit of knowledge over the past 7 years, and I’d be more than happy to give any advice.
Here is a post about my experiences working at the English conversation school, Nova.
Here is some information about working as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in Japanese schools.
How to ALT – Assistant Language Teacher
How to start your first ALT job in Japan
What I learned in my first few months as an ALT
What would you like to hear about? Do you have any specific requests? Let me know in the comments.