TravelBio

Before I finish the Japan chapter of my blog--I left Tokyo at the end of 2020 to start a job in the US--I have one additional post. After organizing my photos I realized that I had amassed quite a few pictures of amusing or quirky signs from my 16 months in Tokyo. I hadn't intentionally sought them out, but would occasionally stumble upon them when walking around the city or traveling further afield. There were plenty more funny signs or clunky English translations I didn't photograph. Now I wish I had intentionally catalogued them; as those who have spent much time in Japan probably know, they aren't hard to find. I hope you enjoy the ones I saved: Warning sign along a stream near Oji Station. The warnings  often look like a cute anime combined with a horror film. Speaking of horror film, this is a warning at the Giza Banta Cliff  in Okinawa (the top says "It's dangerous! Don't go here") Oh, a cute dog...wait, looks like it is drowning! The sign says ...

In the last post, I covered my trip to the island of Okinawa, in the far south of Japan. Following my two night stay there, I flew even further south, to the island of Ishigaki, which is about the same latitude as northern Taiwan. Somewhat confusingly, Ishigaki is also in the prefecture of Okinawa, the name Japanese people use interchangeably to mean either the main island or all the islands under the same administrative division.  Ishigaki is part of Okinawa prefecture; of the prefecture's 1.5 million residents, over 90% live on the main island of Okinawa, where I stayed before heading further south Like in Okinawa (the island, not the prefecture), I stayed on Ishigaki for two nights. I took a short flight from Naha to the Ishigaki Airport, on the southeast side of the island. It's about 10 miles, or 30 minutes by airport bus into the main town. I managed to score another great deal on a hotel; this one was a 15 minute walk from the central commercial area, but I got a two dou...

At the end of November, I found out I would be starting my new job training in January, in Washington, DC. That meant I had less than a month left in Japan. The original contract extension I signed ran through the end of December, but our company's New Year holiday started on Tuesday, the 29th. I also had only taken one vacation day since March. I'm not sure how HR calculated it, but they said I had 17 available days (for once the company math worked out in my favor!). I wasn't able to use up all my days, but did take the second half of December off. The week of the 14th I started preparing for my move and wrapping up in Tokyo. There were a surprising number of things I had to do, including: cancel my rent contract (which thankfully was month to month at that point), set up online banking, give the post office a forwarding address for my mail, forward my utility bills, pay my outstanding residence tax, appoint a tax representative, complete a moving out form at my local cit...