“Hello, I would just like to say that I really enjoy “The Mutiny On The Bounty Box” piece you did. And the reason why I like it so much is because I am related to Captain Bligh of the HMS Bounty. He is my 6th great grandfather, and I really appreciate the comic, and [...]

What exactly is my full-time job? I currently work as an Assistant Language Teacher, ALT, for a Nagoya City-based company called Altia. They sort of rent me out to the Mizunami City Board of Education to teach English in schools here. I work at three elementary schools, a junior high school, and occassionally visit about [...]

As of April 2007, I live in Mizunami City. Mizunami City is located in south-eastern Gifu Prefecture. Land-locked Gifu is located in just about the dead-center of Japan, about three hours drive west of Tokyo.  With a population of only about 40,000 Mizunami isn’t a large city, though it is by far the largest place [...]

In Sada town their favored god and hero was Susano no Mikoto (which basically means Lord Susano). He is extremely popular in all of Shimane Prefecture, and well-known in the mountains of northern Hiroshima as well. Susano is the god of iron. Iron ore, as so happens, was found and smelted in Shimane and the [...]

During my stint on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program, I lived in perhaps the least populated prefecture of Japan, Shimane Ken. Shimane is located on the western coast of Japan. It was the home of some of the most ancient civilizations in Japan and some of the most ancient folklore originates in the area. In [...]