As my Swiss passport was due to expire in a few months' time, I thought it best to get a new one ahead of time. Always be prepared, is one of my mantras. These days the process of renewing a passport is very straightforward: I just had to fill in an online form and submit to the Passport Office in Switzerland, and within less than 24 hours I got confirmation that they had the necessary confidence that I am indeed who I said I was (which is always a relief!), and they asked me

As I enter my 28th year in Japan (and my former life on 'planet Switzerland' is drifting more and more into the obscure past), I have been reflecting on the fact that some of the questions I face when meeting new people in Japan have never changed over the years. Japanese people generally show great interest in other countries and cultures, and especially so, it seems, in Switzerland. Switzerland enjoys kind of a special status in the world for a number of reasons: It's a ric

6th December will be Saint Nicholas Day. In Switzerland, on and around this day you will spot two distinctly different figures walking up and down the streets and visiting houses, one with a bushy white beard and usually clad in a Bishop's robe with a mitre and staff (though sometimes dressed in a red-hooded frock with a tippet), the other rather sinister-looking, in a black robe, with a dark beard and a face covered in coal dust. Often they are accompanied by a donkey. Santa

When you spend your childhood in any given country, you inevitably grow up with what I would call the 'taste of your childhood': Certain foods that are typical for that particular place, which will always remind you of the time when you were growing up, and which are not quite the same anywhere else, or may not be available at all. So if you choose to make another country your permanent home, almost inevitably you will, at one point or another, crave that 'taste of your child

One week from today, the clocks in Europe will be set back by one hour, marking the end of summertime (or daylight saving time, as it is known in some parts of the world). Meanwhile clocks in Japan will not change, and most Japanese will probably not even notice that the time difference to Western Europe is reverting back to 8 hours, from the 7 hours during summer. Except for the UK, where it's 9 hours instead of 8. For those doing business with Europe, it does have an impact

In a previous post, I established how mountains feature heavily in the landscape of both countries, with the tiny difference that the Swiss tend to put up a flag at the top of their peaks, while the Japanese don't. That brings me to the next topic: What shows the identity of a nation more than anything else? Its national flag, of course. Another common theme between Switzerland and Japan. Their shapes may be different, but the colour scheme is obviously very similar: Switzerl

Well, two countries in completely different parts of the world, one an island nation sitting between the Japan Sea and the Pacific Ocean, while the other is a landlocked country neatly tucked away in the middle of Europe, with its southern-most point 160 km from the nearest coast. One with a population of 8.7 million, growing by 0.7% each year, while the other boasts 15 times as many inhabitants, but is shrinking by half a percent per annum. One can do the math to try and fi