The past two weeks in Kyoto have been pretty hectic. I have yet to meet anyone other than family, for obvious reasons. With the kids not in school, we have been going on walks around the neighbourhood so I can get them off of YouTube and TikTok. Other than those short explorations we have beenContinue reading “Ruminating on belonging in a Kyoto coffeeshop”
Author Archives: Chad Kohalyk
Relocating to Kyoto
Good afternoon from Vancouver International Airport. I am at Gate D70, about to board the plane. Yes, I just got back to Canada 3 weeks ago, but things… have been happening. In last month’s newsletter I explained why we had to change our Spring Break destination from a drive to Squamish to an emergency flightContinue reading “Relocating to Kyoto”
Unzen – Where foreigners go to hell to cool off
From a tiny speck on the horizon, the volcano slow grew as I crossed first the mud flats of Kumamoto and then the shallow waters of the Ariake Sea. Now, at the foot of the volcano, looming over the small city of Shimabara, there was only one way to go: up! Unzen, the central volcanoContinue reading “Unzen – Where foreigners go to hell to cool off”
Living “with volcano” — a trip to Shimabara
The Shimabara Peninsula, a peninsula of a peninsula in Nagasaki prefecture, is just one of the fascinating places I travelled to in Kyushu, looking for “Kyushu Firsts.” This is where the “black samurai” Yasuke first landed in Japan in 1579 and is the location of Japan’s first printing press. The peninsula hosted many Portuguese JesuitsContinue reading “Living “with volcano” — a trip to Shimabara”
Signing for more expressiveness in group video chat
Recently my kids have been exploring the differences between American Sign Language (ASL) and Japanese Sign Language (JSL). For them it is another way to explore their own bilingualism, and understand how language is tied to cultural context. I recently read this short manga COVID-33 which describes a future world where talking outside is prohibited,Continue reading “Signing for more expressiveness in group video chat”
2022 Goals
Last year was one of disruption, multiple changed plans, instability, and finally settling in. I have no big plans for 2022, except maybe to try and get to Japan during the summer to tie up some loose ends there. Thus, my goals for 2022 are pretty assured. 2022 will be a year of learning. (well,Continue reading “2022 Goals”
New writing elsewhere, by me (2021 edition)
In the spring of 2021 I set myself a goal to pitch more publications and get more of my writing out there. Things got in the way, and well, since the summer I have not been doing as much writing as I wanted. Below is a roundup of everything I did submit this year, whichContinue reading “New writing elsewhere, by me (2021 edition)”
2021 in Books
With just a couple days to spare, I made my Goodreads Reading Challenge of 40 books. It was a close thing, but I was able to make it up in the final months of the year. Here is how the numbers breakdown by genre: 7 fiction books 8 general nonfiction books 10 books on BuddhismContinue reading “2021 in Books”
Continuing a Japanese porcelain legacy — Review of The Art of Emptiness
In the mid-seventeenth century the nobles of Europe were thrown into an addiction crisis. With the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the chaos that ensued, where were they to get fine porcelain to decorate their palaces? As luck would have it, a new source of kaolinite — the key mineral in the manufacture ofContinue reading “Continuing a Japanese porcelain legacy — Review of The Art of Emptiness”
Interviewing Superintendent Kubota
This month I was in Unseen Japan for a piece called How Schools on Remote Japanese Islands are Fighting Depopulation→ In that article I detail the genesis of the study abroad program my family and I went on for our year on Iki Island (see FAQ). In writing the article I had the pleasure ofContinue reading “Interviewing Superintendent Kubota”
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