For people who are coming to visit Japan (which is apparently doing away with most of its restrictions for travelers starting October 11th), there’s very little need, I think, for you to find English-language books, but for those of us who’ve lived here a long time, you can find yourself (at least I do) wishing you could just wander into any bookstore and find a book in your native language.
So here is a list of where all I have managed to find books.
Disclaimer: I know the internet means you can just download books onto Kindle and such, but I’m only interested in physical books in this entry.
Most Expensive Options
Kinokuniya in Shinjuku – stored behind Takashimaya Times Square in Shinjuku, Tokyo, this “annex” used to house books on all floors, with foreign-language books taking over one of the upper floors. Today, the bottom floors have turned into an affordable interior store called Nitori, while the foreign-language floor remains. This has quite a few options for you to enjoy, but expect to pay about double what you would in an English-speaking country.
Maruzen in Otemachi – Just across from Tokyo Station’s north side, this is an ever-dwindling supply of foreign-language books (mostly English, from what I’ve ever seen). I can’t help but notice more and more of the floor housing the books is being taken over by people selling arts and crafts, which is fine, but I miss the books. Again, expect to pay about double what you normally think you should.
National Azabu – This is a “foreign” grocery store in a wealthy neighborhood of Tokyo with a second floor dedicated to household items, toys and books. They also have quite a few magazines, though nothing like Kinokuniya can offer. Again, jaw-dropping prices for literature.
Amazon.co.jp – They have a fairly wide selection of books, but so far I haven’t found any for what I think is a decent price.
Relatively cheap
Maruzen book sales- The store I mentioned above, and other Maruzen stores, sometimes will have foreign books on sale. The Maruzen store near Tokyo Station used to have a massive foreign-language book sale right in the New Year, but I’m not sure if they’re still doing it. If you speak Japanese, then feel free to check this events list for when it might happen again.
Infinity Books – This bookstore seems to be relatively cheap. It might depend on the book you’re after, though. It’s an entire bookstore just for foreign-language books.
Really cheap
Bookoff – This is a bookstore selling used books only. You can also bring your books here and try to sell them, though don’t expect to make much money off of anything. I think if you go into major Bookoff stores in Tokyo and major cities around Japan, you should find a decent foreign-language section with books nicely on sale. I would like to use this space to brag I found a children’s encyclopedia with a retail value of about $60 selling for $5 at a Bookoff.
For free
Major libraries – It certainly never dawned on me when I first started living here, but a lot of large libraries in major cities here have decent English-language sections. I’ve even been able to get a hold of recent editions of National Geographic at a few libraries near me. Making a library card should be free, but if you don’t speak Japanese, it could prove a challenge.
September is the month of typhoons in Japan, and the season can go into October. One day (like yesterday) it’ll be in the 30s, the next day dark and cool. This is the season of sinus migraines and aching joints as the air pressure wildly fluctuates.
I think in terms of off-seasons, September is the perfect chance to visit Japan (whenever it finally is more open to people from abroad), but typhoons are always going to be a risk if you do visit around now.
Typhoons can wreak havoc on the infrastructure here, meaning train lines shutting down (Shinkansen bullet trains are usually the first to stop if the wind picks up too much) and mad dashes for busses, taxis and rental cars.
For me, the best option is to keep a sharp eye on typhoon forecasts (Japan Yahoo! Weather has a typhoon tracker, which I usually use) and try to plan things around it. Of course, typhoons will suddenly change direction or move slower than predicted (or faster) so September can be a month of sudden changes in plans.
So far, the most I’ve done for typhoon preparedness while living here has been to stock up on water (sometimes I’ve just left the bathtub water in the tub when I know a typhoon is coming, just in case) and move my outdoor plants under a roof our condo’s terrace has. I know people who own houses here have storm shutters they use for their windows when typhoons come.
Getting to work during a typhoon is never pleasant – I used to bike ride to one of my jobs, which meant I have been stupid enough to bike ride during a typhoon to work. If you can, try not to go out during one. That being said, I do know a lot of companies expect you to find alternate routes to work should your usual line gets shut down.
Typhoons are fairly common in Japan so unless it’s an unusually nasty one, not many people I know tend to think much of them beyond an annoyance.
The best thing to do when a typhoon hits is to have a nice supply of food and water in your apartment/house/hotel/hostel and such and just try to wait the storm out indoors.
With Japan opening up its borders to tourists, I thought I’d cover a few things that might be helpful to know when you’re visiting.
Last month I talked about what you should do if you lose something here. Today, it’s trains.
Japan prides itself on its clean and usually prompt train options. It’s how the vast majority of people living in or around Tokyo get to work every day.
Still, take one look at the train map for Tokyo, and you might see why a lot of people find using the system overwhelming. Here are a couple of tips to follow to hopefully make your trip easier.
Various companies
Japan has a series of companies who own and operate the various train lines in the nation. Probably one people know most is Japan Rail (JR). They have lines running all over the country, with maybe their most famous one being the Yamanote Line, which runs in an oddly shaped circle around Tokyo.
Tokyo also has Tokyo Metro, Keisei Lines, Keio Lines, and probably a few more I have forgotten about. Osaka and other major cities will have their own train lines as well.
How to use the trains
Surprisingly, this depends on where you are and what station you’re using. For the most part, though, the station will have a little ticketing machine where you can buy your tickets. I highly, highly recommend buying a Pasmo or Suica card, which is a card you can charge money on.
Otherwise, you have to look up at a map above the ticketing gate or use a train app to determine what amount you need on your ticket.
For example, if you’re just going from one station to the next, you look up at the map above the ticketing machine and find the station you’re trying to get to. It will have a number underneath it, which is how much it will cost you to get there from where you are. So you need to buy a ticket that has that amount.
Most ticketing gates have an English option.
Once you get your ticket or card, use the ticketing gates. All of them will have a little pad onto which you touch your card, and only some of them will have a little slot into which you need to put your ticket if you went the paper ticket route, so keep an eye out for which one you need to go through (again, I can’t recommend a Pasmo or Suica card enough).
Next, you need to know what the name of the last stop is for the direction you’re going in. To know this, either just ask someone working at the station (they usually have an office near the ticketing gates for just such questions, and just tell them what station you’re trying to get to), or find a map that lists all the train stations in one direction or another depending on the platform. They should be listed near the entrance to the platforms. Look at the map and figure out what the last stop is.
For example, you want to go to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo and you’re at Kanda Station. You find a map that suggests the fastest way would be using the JR Chuo Line, which cuts through the lopsided circle the Yamanote Line makes.
You see two platforms for the Chuo Line: One headed toward Tokyo Station and the other toward Otsuki Station.
Shinjuku Station is in the Otsuki Station direction, so you want to get on the train bound for Otsuki Station.
All announcements will be read in Japanese and English, with some lines and companies adding other languages like Mandarin Chinese and Korean. If the names sound confusing, it can help to look below the names at the two-letter and number box and remember which one you’re trying to get off at. It will be announced during the English announcement time on the train.
If you have a Suica or Pasmo, you can easily switch from the JR company line trains to Tokyo Metro and other company lines.
Manners on the train
Here are some of the big things to know about when using the trains.
Especially during weekday rush hour (mornings and evenings), don’t talk on your phone.
Don’t be loud on the trains.
People here are still wearing masks everywhere, so wear them on the trains, too.
Try not to sit down unless you’re especially tired. If you are, then don’t sit in priority seating unless you: 1. Have small children with you. 2. Are pregnant. 3. Have an injury. 4. Have a heart condition. 5. Are old.
When the train arrives at the station and you are still on the platform, go off to the left or right of the train doors as they open to give space for people getting off the train. They get off first, then you get on.
Rail passes
If you plan on exclusively traveling by train while in Japan, I recommend getting something like the JR Rail Pass, which you can only buy before you come visit. The pass gives you unlimited use of any JR line train while you’re here and is only available to foreign tourists.
If you don’t feel like committing to something like that, though, JR and other companies like Tokyo Metro offer day passes at almost all ticketing gates (and there’s an English option). These passes, of course, mean you can only use that company’s lines for the entire day so make sure you don’t buy a Tokyo Metro pass and then hop aboard the Yamanote Line.
If you plan on visiting Japan in the summer, unless you plan on staying up north like in Hokkaido or Aomori, you can expect temperatures to be in the mid-30s C here for most of the summer and even into autumn in some parts.
I’ve been to the following two major cities in Japan during the summer, and I have a few tips.
Tokyo: With so many streets lined with buildings rather than trees, it’s a concrete oven in the summer.
To try and survive, I recommend getting some items that will help cool you down from an 100-yen shop like Daiso (they have neck scarves you douse in water that cool your neck and fans). Also, feel free to roam department stores or electronics stores for no other reason than to bask in their AC.
Kyoto: This is like Florida in a heat wave. The heat just hits your lungs like you’ve run into a wall. This is all because Kyoto is in a valley surrounded by mountains, making it a little bowl that lets heat and humidity just sit there. At least Tokyo is near Tokyo Bay in some areas, allowing for a sea breeze every now and then.
If at all possible, try to avoid Kyoto in the summer. Kyoto is the place to go in the autumn and spring. If you can’t avoid it, however, I survived with those 100-yen items mentioned above and by making a beeline from one convenience store to another. I used to love admiring the ice cream section of each store for no other reason than it’s the coldest section of the store.
Most temples and shrines, unfortunately, don’t have AC, which means your risk of heat stroke greatly rises. I have found the river near Arashiyama can be a nice respite from the heat, at least, but Kyoto will suck the soul out of you if you stay outside for too long in the summer.
As I mentioned earlier, I really love connecting short stories together. I love the idea of stories that stand alone but can also be fitted into a series.
To that end, this is a story that follows “The Burning Bones,” published in 2020. That story focuses on the grief the husband feels at his wife’s funeral, while this story follows their oldest daughter, who carried the photo of her mother out the door after her mother was cremated.
I also have to say I like writing stories about older people. I think that thanks to media and the internet doing a fantastic job making it difficult for older people to connect to other generations, too many people in younger generations write off the older generations.
I wonder how many people think “Well, she died in her 90s so that’s fine.”
Grief is still grief, and none of us, I think, are really ready to say good-bye to people we love, no matter how old they are.
One of Japan’s newspapers called The Asahi Shimbun published an opinion piece this morning where one of their reporters talks about their experience watching former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s funeral procession through the streets of Tokyo after he was gunned down on Friday.
The reporter writes they are reminded of a quote from an essay by Kamo no Chomei during the early 13th century: “The flowing river never stops, and yet the water never stays the same.”
What, I thought, a profoundly perfect way to describe loss.
There have been times in my life where I have wondered how people can go about their day despite a great tragedy, and I think that quote does such a fantastic job explaining the mindset.
Personally, I think the quote can describe the Japanese societal psyche quite well in times of disaster.
I’ve been in Japan during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, devastating typhoons, the pandemic, and now this senseless shooting of a former leader.
Each time, I’ve seen the dark shadows seem to cross the public mind, but people continued as best they could in the circumstances.
Japan has a long history of tragedy on a national scale–mostly natural disasters. I think they have perfected the art of trying to continue moving forward despite devastating circumstances.
I was reading several news sites from abroad describe how the shooting will forever change Japan, and I think perhaps beneath the surface of society here, that might be true to some extent. It won’t be overtly apparent, however.
Personally, though, I think many people here will simply add this tragedy to the list of tragedies kept in the nation’s spirit and keep going anyway.
After what I suppose could be considered writer’s block (I’ve been writing short stories but not a book for a while), I have an idea growing in my mind for a book.
Short stories have been fun to write because, to me, they feel like distilling an entire book into one scene and trying to make it a story in and of itself. While some of my short stories I think would make great books, I haven’t felt particularly inspired enough to flesh them out.
Thus, I was really happy to get the idea for an opening to the new book. Like what often happens to me, I was about to go to sleep, thinking about the book, when the opening lines came to me. I used to have a notepad near my bed, but smartphones have quite a few uses, I think.
I used to just start writing the book once I got an idea, but I would get annoyed having to stop every now and then to figure out the logistics (what’s the character’s name? Where are they in the world, if they are on our world?).
To try and create fewer frustrations, I have lately taken to going through the logistics beforehand. I also try to have a loose plot in my head before I start.
For me, figuring out the plot is best done when I’m doing some sort of mundane task, like household chores. Lately I’ve been gardening more than usual, cleaning more than usual and trying to deep-clean some of my appliances (like the washing machine) all so I can have a mind free to tease out the plot from the tangled mess of images in my head of the story.
I suppose meditating would work better for this sort of thing, but I like being productive while working on the story, so I’m happy when I advance the plot along in my head while also pruning my trees and such.
I already wrote down the first lines of the book, and I have a tentative title, but the ending is still a bit of a mystery for me at the moment. I really want to start writing, though, so maybe I’ll just have to hope one is revealed while I write.
With Japan opening up its borders to tourists, I thought I’d cover a few things that might be helpful to know when you’re visiting.
Today, I want to talk about losing things here.
My experiences losing things here
I still remember one time I was at a summer festival (loong before the pandemic when summer festivals were still a thing) and I don’t even know how but I dropped my wallet. I didn’t realize it was missing until I tried to pay for some snacks and realized my bag didn’t have my wallet in it anymore.
I went to the little information counter all festivals seem to have, and the people there seemed visibly relieved to see my face (they had looked inside the wallet and found my driver’s license inside) as they handed back the wallet to me.
Another time I had left a coin purse (Japan is still more a cash-based society than cards) at a drugstore without even noticing. An hour later I got a phone call from the drugstore, and they seemed apologetic for their sleuthing skills:
“We noticed you had a coupon for our drugstore in the coin purse, so we traced the ID on the coupon to your point card, and that’s how we got your number. You left the coin purse here, though, and we’ll keep it for you behind the counter until you can come and get it.”
Just yesterday the rain cover on my bike had blown off in the wind as I had been bike riding, and I hadn’t even noticed until today. In a panic, I retraced my steps and found the cover neatly folded up and resting on a bush along the path I’d used.
Social code
I know that in America, anyway, most people assume something has been stolen and gone forever if you lose an object somewhere, like an umbrella, a bike or (God-forbid) your wallet.
While I have experienced exceptions here, for the most part, if you lose something here, assume someone is trying to get it back to you.
For example, just walking around my neighborhood here any given day, I’ll see random lost objects put up on trees or along fences–hats, a kid’s shoe or toy, a train pass–to make it stand out more to people passing by.
There is an unspoken but strict social code here that you do not ever simply assume a lost object is up for grabs; only the owner can come back and get it. Your social duty is to make it easier for the person who lost it to find it again, hence stringing it up on trees at eye level.
Finding it again
If the object is highly valuable (rings, wallets etc), then most people will go to their nearest Koban (police station) and turn it in. Thus, if you happen to have the misfortune of losing something of great value, start off at the local Koban and be prepared to fill out a lot of paperwork.
If you happen to lose your item on the train, most people will grab it and turn it into the nearest station official whenever they get off the train, so go to the ticketing gates and talk to the people manning the gates there. Different companies own different lines so if you skipped from Tokyo Metro to the JR Lines, for example, then it’d be a good idea to visit a station belonging to each company and reporting the lost object to them.
If you lose an object near shops, definitely ask people working at the shops.
In short, losing something in Japan usually doesn’t mean you have to forever say good-bye to it, so don’t give up looking for it too easily.
I am not a die-hard Star Wars fan, but I do love the film series. I have no problem finding the good points to the prequels, and given enough time, I think I could even take a crack at defending the The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
I was particularly excited about Obi-Wan Kenobi, however, because Ewan McGregor was coming back. Apart from being in love with how that actor looks, I’m madly in love with his acting skills, and I think he did a great job in the prequels.
The first episode, however, was a bit of a disappointment for me. I thought it dragged, though I did appreciate seeing an entirely defeated Obi-Wan.
I like how we, the audience, know how he was in the prequel movies and how he will be in A New Hope. In those prequel movies, Obi-Wan strikes me as someone entirely confident, and in A New Hope, at peace.
As the Obi-Wan series has continued (up to episode IV is out right now), I’ve come to understand this series is about bringing a defeated and traumatized Obi-Wan to being at peace within.
Without this series, we the audience are left to imagine the Obi-Wan who left Anakin to die simply becomes a wise old man in A New Hope who gently guides Luke from afar before quietly nudging him into a war with Vader.
I appreciate that we see one of Star Wars’ great heroes struggling while overwhelmed with loss, grief, self-doubt and self-loathing. I appreciate that this isn’t a quick fix or something he just “snaps” himself out of. The series starts ten years after Obi-Wan leaves Anakin for dead, and Obi-Wan is still completely lost in himself.
Grief doesn’t just disappear in real life, and I love how this series seems to acknowledge that. I love Obi-Wan so much more thanks to this series.
As a side-note, I have to say I also love how they portrayed Darth Vader in episode III.
I think Darth Vader has become a kind of pop culture icon, and he has legions of fans across the world.
I think having a scene where Vader just casually walks through a town and either tortures or kills people to try and draw Obi-Wan out brings home, at least for me, the fact Vader isn’t exactly a role model. He turned good at the end, but not before earning that hatred Princess Leia shows him in A New Hope. It was a nice reminder he is nothing less than a villain.
Thus, I thought I’d spend a few posts here offering some tips on how to be a good tourist here that I’ve learned through my own experiences.
Today, I’m going to focus on public baths.
What are public baths in Japan?
They’re places usually found all over the place where you pay money, enter one part of the bath that is meant for either men or women (choose wisely), strip down naked and enjoy some hot-water baths.
Sentou vs. onsen
You’ll likely find lots of signs declaring the bath is a sentou or onsen. It’s good to know the difference.
A sentou is just regular water that’s been heated up. People still like to go to them because a lot of sentous try to make up for the lack of hot-spring water by putting special scents into the water or, I’m not making this up, running weak electrical currents through the water to “stimulate the body.”
An onsen, on the other hand, is hot spring water. This is water from the earth that is naturally heated and contains minerals and other things that people here swear will heal whatever ails you. I have no idea if it actually does or not.
Using a public bath
Whether your plan is to use the local sentou (usually found in crowded cities for people who live in such cheap apartments, they don’t even have their own shower room) or visit a luxurious onsen spa resort, the steps to follow are basically the same:
Take your shoes off at the entrance.
Find the shoe locker area and stuff your shoes into an empty one.
Take your shoe-locker key to reception and buy tickets for the baths.
After payment (some have you pay at the end, like a hotel), reception will give you a bracelet that contains a key. The number on the key bracelet is your locker number in the public bath area.
Go the men or women’s bath area
Find your locker according to the number on your bracelet.
Strip completely naked and stuff all of your clothing into the locker.
Find the shower area.
Scrub yourself like you’ve never scrubbed before. People here expect you to be sparkling clean before you put one toe into the baths.
For those of you with long hair, put it in a high bun on top of your head whether you washed it or not.
Sometimes you can find a tiny pool of water at the entrance of the main area, accompanied with a ladle or a tiny bucket. Some people enjoy, for some reason, splashing themselves with the hot water before stepping into the baths. This is an optional step, in my opinion.
Some people also like to carry little towels with them into the baths. I honestly don’t know why. Maybe someone will explain this one to me someday.
Take your time enjoying all the baths that are available. Feel free to move around and experience them all.
When you’re done, rinse yourself off at one of the standing showers that are available.
Go to your locker, dry yourself off with a towel. The women’s rooms (no idea about the men’s) usually have a little vanity mirror area with hair dryers and sometimes complimentary skin care products.
Many people here, and I, recommend drinking an ice cold milk from a little glass bottle vending machine usually available near the front entrance of the public baths. I have no idea what it is, but nothing quite hits the spot like cold milk after all those hot baths.
Go back to reception and hand back your bracelet. They will hand you back the key to the shoe locker so you can get your shoes.
Do’s and don’t’s at a public bath
Do not splash. This is a place of relaxation, and only little kids can get away with stuff like that. I think it’s something you could conceivably get away with if absolutely no one else is in the public bath, but it’s highly frowned upon.
Do not run. Just like you wouldn’t around a pool, the floors at public baths are always slippery.
Do not put your head underwater. This is a big no-no because I think people just don’t like the idea of your hair touching the water. I’ve seen people on TV shows go underwater at a public bath (they wear towels or a bathing suit when on TV), but I’ve never seen this happen in real life.
Wear your hair up. I just wanted to repeat that one since I’ve been personally scolded for forgetting to wear my hair up after I’d just washed it. This means sopping-wet hair tied at the top of your head.
Do not stare at anyone there. While some people might completely forget their manners and stare at you for being foreign, it is universally considered creepy to stare at naked people. That is why most public baths, especially ones with open-air options, will put decorations around for you to look at, instead.
Bring your own towel. You can rent one, but that’s just wasted money, in my opinion.
Bring toiletries you need. They won’t have hairbrushes, for example, except ones you can buy for an outrageous price. At the very least, try to find a nearby 100-yen store and buy one there. Most public baths will have shampoo, conditioner and body soap, but you can bring your own little bottles of stuff if you want.
Don’t be loud. Again, this is not a public pool – it’s a place people go to for relaxation and to unwind. It’d be like going to a spa and treating it like a house party.
Scrub yourself clean. Another repeat, but people here like ridiculously clean people to use the baths. I still personally think the baths have to still be less-than-clean, but I guess it makes people here feel better if they see you really taking your time to make sure every inch of you is squeaky clean before you step into the baths.
Going to public baths with little kids
Some public baths are cool with kids who aren’t potty trained, others are not so much, so I would check ahead on their website or ask reception before spending money there. Some of the bigger public bath facilities actually have baths that specifically will say “Kids who aren’t potty trained can use this one”, which is helpful.
If you have a baby, most public baths will have a plastic tub (I’m not sure if there’s one in the men’s public bath area) for you to scoop up some water (where you put the baby while you do this is beyond me) from the baths and put them in there.
Some public baths cater to babies and really young kids, and a lot of hotels also have “baby vacation packages” where they will fill your hotel room with baby stuff you need and generally have a public bath available that’s easier to use when you have small kids in tow.
I also highly, HIGHLY, recommend something called a “kashi kiri onsen” (kahsh keeree ohnsen), which is a tiny onsen you can rent out just for yourself and your family. That way the whole family can just go into the same onsen and you don’t have to worry about your kids annoying everyone. Many hotels have this option, so I recommend taking a look around online.
General rule: Most public baths are ok with your kids being with you in the public bath as long as they’re below roughly the age of 8 (check the public bath you’re visiting as the rule varies). That means dads with daughters can still take them into the men’s public bath and moms with sons can take them into the women’s public bath. After the age of 8, again the rule varies, the kids have to go into the public bath society says matches their assigned gender.
Public baths for those who don’t identify with their assigned gender
Japan is super not interested in catering to people who don’t identify with their assigned gender when it comes to public baths.
That being said, you still have a couple of options.
First, is the “kashi kiri onsen” I mentioned above. Anyone can use it for however long you can rent it.
Second, are public baths that have “mixed public baths.” These are baths for men and women to use, and bathing suits are required.
What to do if you have a tattoo
You may have heard about this one, but Japan does NOT like tattoos.
Tattoos are associated with organized crime here. Rather than banning people with certain tattoos from public baths, however, Japan went nuclear and banned anyone with tattoos from almost all public baths in the nation.
There are a few things you can do to work around this.
First, try to find a public bath that is cool with tattoos. Before the pandemic, quite a few public baths in Tokyo understood that foreigners have tattoos and are not, in fact, in organized crime, so they will have signs up by the main doors, usually in English, that say “Tattoos are ok here.”
Second, if that fails or your friends are insisting on a public bath that hates tattoos, try to cover your tattoo up with a waterproof bandage. If it’s too large to cover up, you might have to just sit and wait in the lobby for your friends.
