Tag Archives: Japan

Mongolia 2ーArrival

Update: This post is the last and 5th part of Mongolian series. Please check part 1, part 3, part 4, and part 5

After deciding to leave Chile, it’s time to go to Mongolia!

First of all, I was going to go directly from Chile to Mongolia, but given that the destination is the other side of the planet, I made a decision to go to Japan first to prepare my self. Even Chingis Khaan managed to expand his empire with a lot of preparation (I think).

Before leaving Chile, I tried to meet as many close people as possible to eat out. At that time, I didn’t know that Chilean ingredients such as avocado (“Palta” in Chile), seafood and wine were that valuable, as I took them for granted. Especially since I was born and raised in Japan, I was used to seafood (for the next 3 years I really appreciated every opportunity to have sea food as Mongolia is landlocked country).

After all, we can appreciate the value of something when we lose it, be it health, salmon or Palta.

So I will briefly write about the path to arrive Mongolia.

Continue reading →

Finding Myself through Interview

In June, I had an interview with a Japanese newspaper in Mongolia.
The main focus was to capture what I am doing in Mongolia as well as my journey up until now.

Having read the previous interviews of this newspaper (a Nobel prize winner, the CEO of the biggest bank in Mongolia, etc.), I was not sure if I was the right fit, but the chief editor said as long as it can deliver something worth sharing, it would be fine. After the publication, I received some positive feedback from people I know as well as strangers, so I hope it was ok.

The interview took more than 3 hours, and it was a fluid conversation rather than serious Q&A. It was an enjoyable experience for me.

Continue reading →

Mongolian International Education Conference

Last week, I was invited to present in an international education conference in Mongolia (albeit small scale).
The theme of the conference was “issue and solution of pre/primary education.”

I thought that would be a great chance to present the current project I am in charge of (project to support 1st grader’s school transition). But I was asked to talk something about Japan, mainly because I would be presenting as a Guest from Japan (although I am based in Mongolia!). ←Probably the conference did not have enough budget to invite many people from Japan (there was one college professorーREAL guest from Japan).
Continue reading →

Learning from the evolution of Toilet in Japan

While I was back in Japan, I was surprised by how much shower toilet has been used in many parts, be it airport, hotel, office or restaurant, and this matter made me think about two things: (1) What’s normal and (2) What’s impossible.

Continue reading →

Unexpected Encounter

Recently, I had a great encounter. I didn’t expect to meet this person in Mongolia, the person who I would say is well-known to the majority of Japanese: Mr. Hirotada Ototake, the author of “No one’s perfect” (in Japanese, Gotai Humanzoku which literally means without limbs). He came to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to an event for opening new bookstore branch and introduce his book translated into Mongolian.

Furthermore, at this event, Mongolian national iconic person, Asa Shoryu (previous sumo wrestling Champion in Japan) was also present, so it was double unexpected encounter for me.

Continue reading →

Duty free in my own country

Have you purchased something through Duty free? The one you come across in an airplane or airport when you travel.
Actually, I had never done that in my life, until just one month ago, because for me, the less stuff you have, the easier to move around. So compared to the extra burden that you would carry in you journey, the discount rate was not that attractive to me.

But this time, the evolution of Duty free blew my mind, since I saw a lot of stores which adapted Duty free system not in “air XXX” but in my home townーOsaka, Japanーand I could save around 20,000 jPY (around 160 USD) just with Duty Free.

Honestly, I didn’t think I was eligible for Duty Free in Japan, and I assume that I am not the only one. Therefore, I hope this can be of any help not only for foreigners who travel to Japan (maybe other countries, too), but also for Japanese who live abroad and return temporarily.

Continue reading →

Antenna and JR pass

Opportunity opens up your antenna, which enables you to find something attractive.

To take an example of shopping, when you have no idea of what you want, it’s hard to find something attractive, whereas when you know what you want, it’s easier to find it in a store.
It’s because your antenna is wide open for finding that specific thing.

For me, it was Japan toward which I opened my antenna. When I was in Japan, I had little interest in touristic places in my country. But since I started living abroad, I became aware of being Japanese, which opened my mind to my own country. And every time I return, I decided to visit specific places I’d never been. And the more I travel, the more I realize that there are such a many great places that I never get bored of traveling.

But of course, traveling in Japan is not cheap, and I usually don’t have so much time when I return. This time, I spent only 1 week in Japan as a transit from Chile to Mongolia, but I could visit quite many places. And that was JR pass which made my journey possible.
Continue reading →