Japanese Girl Watches Boxing? (or “De La Hoya Go Down on Golden Ass”)

How is this for a stereotype buster – my Japanese wife Noriko likes to watch boxing with me.  Okay, maybe “likes” is an overstatement, but at least she tolerates my eccentric habit.  “I used to watch wrestling wit my fadduh when I was little guhl, so I watch boxing wit you…”  [...]

Japanese Girls Speak Funny English!

Readers may wonder – what is it like to live with someone who speaks English as a second language, especially when the language is as different as English is from Japanese?  Hopefully the Tales here have documented one side of it – the richness of linguistic and cultural nuance that is shared.  But what about [...]

Are Japanese Women Really Submissive?

Since I started writing “Noriko’s Tales”, I have been motivated to look on-line at related subjects.  One thing is for sure – Americans have a fascination with Asian women, along with the belief that they are “submissive”.  This is a rich and fascinating topic, one which I have attempted to address before (see earlier Tale, [...]

Novel Japanese Sayings (or “My Wife Tells Lies!)

As discussed in a previous Tale (“Submissive Japanese Housewives?”), it is customary for Japanese wives to handle all accounting and bill paying as a means of garnering power in the relationship. Thus Noriko has a small office off of our living room referred to as “the executive suite” to convey proper dignity to her role.  [...]

A Japanese Girl Learns English (or “Dat Word Mean DAT?”)

One evening I met Noriko for dinner at a local restaurant.  “Dis joint have best pizza in Santa Fe,” she informed me as we sat down.  We ordered our food and began to talk.  “Today, at check-out countuh at Whole Food, I chit-chat wit cashier,” Noriko said.
“Yes?”
“Just chatting, I tell him dat I little beavuh.  [...]

Japanese Cultural Tales: Ghost in Bathroom

I have documented the Japanese culture’s fascination with ghosts in earlier post “Ghost Under Tree”, but since Halloween season is a fine time for ghost stories, the Tale below revisits this lovely theme….
For years, Noriko  insisted when we went to bed at night, that I close the door from our bedroom to the bathroom.  “Door [...]