From the beginning of history, our ancestors have practiced the art of storytelling, wrapped in blackness as they huddled around the flickering fire, telling the legends of their people in the warm, crackling glow, passing on the best of themselves.
I came across a quote from "The Radicalist" in another substack, a quote so well written, that I hit the Free Subscription button as a knee-jerk reaction.
Among well over a couple of hundred substack e-mails I receive every day, I just finished reading "Fire in the Belly: A Defense of Free Speech". Somewhat long, I was prepared to skim, skip, or close and move on.
Instead, I was so skillfully reacquainted with fading names and ideals, this fading cynic was inspired to become a paid subscriber.
David, you are such a bright ember among all the dust and debris, I am confident dedicating a bit of my precious time and decreasing financial resources to reading you is a good investment. This is so well written, I can imagine myself committing some phrasing to memory.
Thank you, Steve. What a very kind compliment. You're the kind of reader I work to impress. By the way, I lived in Japan for four years and speak the language. I'd be curious to know whereabout you live. I spent my days there primarily in Sanda, Nagano, and Matsumoto.
Small world David, and honored with your reply. I won't presume to vampirize your reading / writing time ... but here is a very short bio that might be relevant to what I see in your writing.
My undergrad was in Marine Biology (UNC-W), but by second year, I had grown disillusioned with the brute memorization for standardized tests, and had gravitated towards philosophy (Chapel Hill) and jazz for therapeutic purposes, met a Japanese exchange student, and moved to Japan to be with her some 40 years ago. We have long since parted ways, but I enjoyed the conversation school gigs, and went on to Temple Univ. Japan where I got an M.Ed and matriculated into the doctoral program. I never finished the doctoral program, but spent a bit over 20 years trying to interest and motivate non STEM undergrads at TUJ as the biology lab director, and teacher of freshman writing and public speaking. I also had part-time gigs at Waseda, Geidai, Komazawa, and about a half dozen other Japanese universities before snagging a tenured position at Jissen Women's College. I hung in there for about 14 years, but only because it took that long to realize that I would never be more than their token foreigner. Most tenured faculty at the school had no intention of making and improving a real educational curriculum. I resigned in protest about 10 years ago, but without realizing that in so doing, I had basically banished myself from the job market.
By virtue of Japanese buddies who share my love of fishing, music, and community activism, I speak reasonably good street Japanese, but soon realized learning kanji would not be a good investment of time and energy, so I depend on conversational skills, and now A.I. and web sites such as DeepL to do the heavy literary lifting.
I first came to Utsunomiya and lived there for a bit over two years, then moved to Tokyo for grad school and work ... first near Komagome station on the Yamanote line, and then near Yoyogi Koen station when I worked a brief stint at a trading company. I've now been in my present apartment near Noborito station for a bit over 30 years. Expensive, but also too expensive to move, so I've been in limbo for a few years. Probably terminal.
Had we the opportunity and enough beer, I'm sure we'd have plenty of tales to swap regarding life in Japan. But for now, I am happy to be reading someone else who can distinguish human nature from the propaganda of Japanese (or American) exceptionalism.
It will take a bit of time for me to catch up with what you've written, but I see you are already buddies with one of my other two paid subscriptions ... Margaret Anna Alice, the other being Tessa Lena. Come to think of it, it was probably from Margaret that I first came across your name.
But I also occasionally chat with Mathew Crawford, Sasha Latypova, Laura Dodsworth, John. Day, Tereza Coraggio, and a few others. So much to read, and so much bad in the world is continuing to unfold (or maybe just my awareness of it), I can't keep up ... but now nearing the end of my days (and as a marginalized foreigner), I am finding it harder to motivate myself to even keep up much less to contribute to the good fight. It is a handful of friends here, and writers such as you and Margaret that keep me going, and from going under.
Cheers David. Looking forward to reaping inspiration from you.
Thanks for the story. You've had a fascinating life abroad. I've been to Utsunomiya. Had the famous gyoza. I used to live next to a gyoza place in Sanda that said if you could eat seven orders in less than 30 minutes, it was free. But they were not prepared for an American appetite and I enjoyed free dinner on more than one occasion. Beers and stories would be great. And yes, Margaret Anna Alice and I are currently writing a letter exchange. She's great.
Well thought-out analysis of the need for free speech in a democracy.
Hello David,
I came across a quote from "The Radicalist" in another substack, a quote so well written, that I hit the Free Subscription button as a knee-jerk reaction.
Among well over a couple of hundred substack e-mails I receive every day, I just finished reading "Fire in the Belly: A Defense of Free Speech". Somewhat long, I was prepared to skim, skip, or close and move on.
Instead, I was so skillfully reacquainted with fading names and ideals, this fading cynic was inspired to become a paid subscriber.
David, you are such a bright ember among all the dust and debris, I am confident dedicating a bit of my precious time and decreasing financial resources to reading you is a good investment. This is so well written, I can imagine myself committing some phrasing to memory.
Cheers from Japan,
steve
Thank you, Steve. What a very kind compliment. You're the kind of reader I work to impress. By the way, I lived in Japan for four years and speak the language. I'd be curious to know whereabout you live. I spent my days there primarily in Sanda, Nagano, and Matsumoto.
Small world David, and honored with your reply. I won't presume to vampirize your reading / writing time ... but here is a very short bio that might be relevant to what I see in your writing.
My undergrad was in Marine Biology (UNC-W), but by second year, I had grown disillusioned with the brute memorization for standardized tests, and had gravitated towards philosophy (Chapel Hill) and jazz for therapeutic purposes, met a Japanese exchange student, and moved to Japan to be with her some 40 years ago. We have long since parted ways, but I enjoyed the conversation school gigs, and went on to Temple Univ. Japan where I got an M.Ed and matriculated into the doctoral program. I never finished the doctoral program, but spent a bit over 20 years trying to interest and motivate non STEM undergrads at TUJ as the biology lab director, and teacher of freshman writing and public speaking. I also had part-time gigs at Waseda, Geidai, Komazawa, and about a half dozen other Japanese universities before snagging a tenured position at Jissen Women's College. I hung in there for about 14 years, but only because it took that long to realize that I would never be more than their token foreigner. Most tenured faculty at the school had no intention of making and improving a real educational curriculum. I resigned in protest about 10 years ago, but without realizing that in so doing, I had basically banished myself from the job market.
By virtue of Japanese buddies who share my love of fishing, music, and community activism, I speak reasonably good street Japanese, but soon realized learning kanji would not be a good investment of time and energy, so I depend on conversational skills, and now A.I. and web sites such as DeepL to do the heavy literary lifting.
I first came to Utsunomiya and lived there for a bit over two years, then moved to Tokyo for grad school and work ... first near Komagome station on the Yamanote line, and then near Yoyogi Koen station when I worked a brief stint at a trading company. I've now been in my present apartment near Noborito station for a bit over 30 years. Expensive, but also too expensive to move, so I've been in limbo for a few years. Probably terminal.
Had we the opportunity and enough beer, I'm sure we'd have plenty of tales to swap regarding life in Japan. But for now, I am happy to be reading someone else who can distinguish human nature from the propaganda of Japanese (or American) exceptionalism.
It will take a bit of time for me to catch up with what you've written, but I see you are already buddies with one of my other two paid subscriptions ... Margaret Anna Alice, the other being Tessa Lena. Come to think of it, it was probably from Margaret that I first came across your name.
But I also occasionally chat with Mathew Crawford, Sasha Latypova, Laura Dodsworth, John. Day, Tereza Coraggio, and a few others. So much to read, and so much bad in the world is continuing to unfold (or maybe just my awareness of it), I can't keep up ... but now nearing the end of my days (and as a marginalized foreigner), I am finding it harder to motivate myself to even keep up much less to contribute to the good fight. It is a handful of friends here, and writers such as you and Margaret that keep me going, and from going under.
Cheers David. Looking forward to reaping inspiration from you.
steve
Thanks for the story. You've had a fascinating life abroad. I've been to Utsunomiya. Had the famous gyoza. I used to live next to a gyoza place in Sanda that said if you could eat seven orders in less than 30 minutes, it was free. But they were not prepared for an American appetite and I enjoyed free dinner on more than one occasion. Beers and stories would be great. And yes, Margaret Anna Alice and I are currently writing a letter exchange. She's great.