How Japan’s quirks become everyday life abroad How Japan has changed! Back when I first landed in Japan 28 years ago, I felt like a rare Pokémon in a sea of Pikachus — an oddity, a curiosity! People would look at me with a mix of fascination and fear, like I was about to unleash a fire-breathing dragon. They hesitated to speak Japanese, probably thinking, “This poor soul wouldn’t understand a word!” And at least in my first couple of years here, they would have been right. Wh

Half a lifetime navigating Japan, identity, and the Swiss abroad This month marks 27 years since I set foot in Japan, together with my Japanese wife, to make a fresh start in a country that I knew little about, and where I had merely spent a few weeks previously while on holiday. I thought that I would use this occasion to start a blog to share my experiences of living in this fascinating - and sometimes confusing - country. It might seem an odd decision to pick the 27-year