Akiko

Akiko's avatar'

speaks: Japanese

learns: English

likes: reading, travel, cooking, language learning, health, art, cinema, language exchanges, philosophy, music, history, tv shows, programming, movies

Akiko's avatar'

I live in Toyama, Japan. In winter it snows a lot and we have to dig our cars out of the snow. I was a single mother raising my only son. Now he is independent and lives in Tokyo. Later then, I have started to relearn English during the Covid lockdown period and also started playing guitar at the same time. I am a web engineer and working remotely for a company.

Toyama, Japan

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Recent Posts
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#003 Mochi Is Deadly Weapon

I've uploaded the third episode. https://listen.style/p/paperandguitar/xtfvfhn0 Uly helped me again. I understood all of theories he explained, but some of them are difficult for me to pronounce in
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Jan 17 - 1 min. read

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My Blowout With My Son

I'm planning to move to Tokyo in the middle of this year and have started to drastically cull my things. I made my son come home to help me declutter my apartment. I even paid for him to take the
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Jan 13 - 1 min. read

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My After School Hours

Starting this year, I'm going to be working six hours a day. Of course, I'm going to take a pay cut, and I'll no longer get bonuses, but I'm satisfied with my decision. I'll be working nine to four
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Jan 9 - 1 min. read

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More About Mochi

I want to add a few details to my brief post about mochi that I made before. To begin with, mochi is made from a different type of rice from what we eat every day. It's more pricey and has a stronger
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Jan 8 - 2 min. read

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#002 I've Started A Podcast

https://listen.style/p/paperandguitar/qvyicqxf I've uploaded my second recording. Uly helped me a lot with my pronunciation. Big thank you, Uly! I left this for my record even though I couldn't
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Jan 6 - 1 min. read

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Mochi Is Deadly Weapon

This year, I skipped most of the New Year's traditions, but the one thing I couldn't do without was mochi. If I don't have mochi on New Year's day, it just doesn't feel like New Year's. Things were
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Jan 3 - 1 min. read

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I've Started A Podcast

I've been evaluating both my guitar practice and English study strategies, and I've started a podcast. Having said that, there will only be recordings of me reading my Journaly posts aloud. For a
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Dec 27 - 1 min. read

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Stage Fright

Last night, I attended an amateur musician's year-end party and performed a cover of an Elliot Smith song. I believed I'd overcome my stage fright when I was able to give my all in a dance recital,
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Dec 22 - 1 min. read

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Lactose Intolerance

I recently had a stomachache. I'd always assumed my stomach was weak because it hurt regularly when I was little. As an adult, I've rarely had abdominal pain, so I forgot about it. This last one took
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Dec 13 - 1 min. read

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Guitar As A Lover

Quite a few guitarists treat their guitar like a lover. When you play the guitar, you hold it tight. It's portable, and you can go anywhere with it. That's how it differs from a piano, which I
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Dec 11 - 1 min. read

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An Episode Of Shuntaro Tanikawa

Shuntaro Tanikawa was by far the most famous poet in postwar Japan and passed away at the age of 92 this year. It was difficult even for him to support himself solely by selling "pure" poetry books,
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Dec 9 - 1 min. read

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"Sunny" By Taiyo Matsumoto

Have you watched Robin MacPherson's latest video? He's back on YouTube! Shout out to Robin! About two years ago, I only understood half of what he was saying when I found his YouTube channel, but now
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Dec 5 - 1 min. read

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Do You Take Your Phone Into Bed?

When smartphones began to become popular in Japan, I encountered a tweet like this: "I don't feel like being connected to the internet all day, even when I'm away from home." I remember I agreed with
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Dec 2 - 1 min. read

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Suzumeno Tears And Shiiba-Son

The phrase sparrow's tears in Japanese describes a very tiny amount of something. Suzumeno means sparrow's, and the band Suzumeno Tears got their name from this expression. These two women are both
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Nov 28 - 1 min. read

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The Pros and Cons of Working Remotely

I'm working remotely, which has its pros and cons. I sometimes consider moving to Nagoya, where my company is based, but I'm also relieved to live far away. This has its advantages and disadvantages,
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Nov 23 - 2 min. read

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More About My Work

The CMS I mentioned in my previous post is called a-blog cms, and it has a market share of only about 1% in Japan. Here is my interview from when I was still a freelancer. It's only available in
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Nov 18 - 1 min. read

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About My Work

I got into the web industry about 25 years ago, just after the birth of my son. It was just when the Internet was beginning to spread, so there were a lot of jobs available. Having said that, finding
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Nov 17 - 1 min. read

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I’m In Nagoya

I work for a company in Nagoya, central Japan, and I'll be there for business for the next two days. I have a lot to write about after reading so many interesting posts, but I'm in a hotel and
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Nov 14 - 1 min. read

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Comforting And Beautiful Season

When I was a child, November was almost winter, but now, especially this year, it's a comforting and beautiful season. It was such a bright day yesterday that I drove to a park for lunch. My
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Nov 9 - 1 min. read

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Rest In Peace, Kazuo Umezz

It was reported that one of the giants of Japanese manga, Kazuo Umezz, died at the end of last month at the age of 88. Among the numerous masterpieces he left us, "The Drifting Classroom" is
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Nov 6 - 1 min. read

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