Stage Fright
Stage Fright
I attended an amateur musician's year-end party and performed Elliott Smith's cover. I believed I'd overcome my stage fright when I was able to give my all in a dance recital, but I realized I was
Akiko
speaks: Japanese
learns: English
likes: reading, travel, cooking, language learning, health, art, cinema, language exchanges, philosophy, music, history, tv shows, programming, movies
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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Dec 22 - 1 min. read
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Lactose Intolerance
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
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
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
"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?
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
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
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
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
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’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
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
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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The Same Guitar Strings That Elliott Used
The Same Guitar Strings That Elliott Used
I'm a new fan of Elliott Smith. When I first started playing guitar, I watched a lot of solo guitar and vocals videos, and the YouTube algorithm recommended his. I immediately fell in love with his
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Nov 3 - 1 min. read
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Dance As Therapy: Part 3
Dance As Therapy: Part 3
The night before the recital, the incidental musician came from Tokyo, and we did a dress rehearsal. We painted our bodies white and wore the white outfits we'd made on our own. The music for my
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Nov 2 - 2 min. read
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Dance As Therapy: Part 2
Dance As Therapy: Part 2
I was set to perform both a group dance and a solo at the recital, but I particularly want to focus on the solo in this series of posts. The choreography my instructors created for me was so simple
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Nov 1 - 2 min. read
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Dance As Therapy: Part 1
Dance As Therapy: Part 1
I ended up taking a butoh dance class for a couple of years. I hadn’t planned on joining something so unusual and intense, but before I realized it, I was fully immersed in it. Those were my craziest
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Oct 29 - 1 min. read
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The Chinese and Japanese Languages: Part 2
The Chinese and Japanese Languages: Part 2
How we read ancient Chinese As I previously stated, Japanese high school students study ancient Chinese literature and poetry, but the grammars of both languages differ greatly from one another. So,
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Oct 26 - 3 min. read
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Taking Over Work for a Friend
Taking Over Work for a Friend
I haven't had the energy to write posts lately because of a sad experience. I'm sorry to bring up such a serious subject, but I want to write about it. Journaly has already become more than just a
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Oct 19 - 2 min. read
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The Chinese and Japanese Languages: Part 1
The Chinese and Japanese Languages: Part 1
My previous post received a lot of interesting comments from Journalers, which motivated me to write more about the Chinese and Japanese languages. Simplified and traditional Chinese characters
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Oct 7 - 3 min. read
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