by joostay
A superhero called ‘Take a Shit Man’ and little pieces of crap that want to escape… The books I find in my kindergarten keep getting weirder. Have you read… Unco the Unwanted Shit Taking a Shit in Japan: A Beginner’s Guide
Categories: Bizarre/Unique, Kindergarten Life • Tags: art, asia, bizarre, book, culture, gaijin, japan, kindergarten, shit, south east asia, surreal, teaching, tokyo, unko, weird
by joostay
Teaching purity and peace, for one day only. The Shinto shrine that shares its grounds with a kindergarten. On Tuesday I am the guy on call. If someone gets sick, I get a phonecall. On Monday night it came at 9pm, the apologetic voice of my boss asking (telling) me to go sub at a school Id never been to before the next day. After initially declaring him a bastard, I soon warmed to the idea when I realised it’d […]
Categories: Kindergarten Life, Tokyo Days • Tags: asia, culture, english, gaijin, guidebook, japan, kindergarten, shinto, shrine, south east asia, teaching, torii, train, travel, urban
by joostay
Be a nice guy and you’ll be rewarded with cash and ice cream… So the other day I found a wallet on the train with ¥50,000 in it. That’s £320 or $500. Along with the cash, there were about ten different bank cards, a million loyalty cards and the guy’s full medical history. There was also one of his own business cards – so being the nice guy that I am, I called him up to arrange to give the […]
Categories: Tokyo Days • Tags: asia, chiyoda, gaijin, japan, nice guy, reward, sun, tokyo, urban
by joostay
April is a time of change in Japan. It’s the month that marks the start of the new school year, with many people changing jobs and others leaving the country for good. It’s been a very busy period for me: new schools, new responsibilities and new friends. But in between teaching, writing and drawing I’ve also managed to pack in so much stuff over the last few weeks in Tokyo.
Categories: Kindergarten Life, Tokyo Days • Tags: art, asia, backpacking, bar, Chim↑Pom, culture, exhibition, fashion, food, gaijin, harajuku, hello kitty, inaka, japan, kindergarten, louis vuitton, omotesando, saitama, shimokitazawa, south east asia, street, surreal, Taro Okamoto, teaching, tokyo, travel, urban, weird
by joostay
¥30 beers in Tokyo? Yup, they exist. 114 beers later and we’re alive to tell the tale… Whether you’re new to Japan, or are simply blind drunk in the convenience store at 3am and can’t see what you’re buying, you’ve probably had happoshu (発泡酒). Basically classed as a “low-malt beer-like beverage”, the quality of happoshu can vary from ‘just about drinkable’ to ‘piss in a can’. Japanese tax laws state that beers that contain over 67% malt are taxed in […]
Categories: Art Music & Culture, Tokyo Days • Tags: asia, bar, beer, booze, culture, drunk, food, gaijin, hangover, happoshu, japan, restaurant, south east asia, street, tokyo, travel, urban
by joostay
A healthy dose of community spirit ??? and random strangers stealing your underwear… The ins and outs of living in a Japanese share house. It’s 3am and there is a 40-year-old German singing opera in my kitchen. I have two main problems with this…
Categories: Art Music & Culture, Tokyo Days • Tags: apartment, gaijin, house, japan, living, rent, shared house, tokyo
