These spiders are a common site in Okinawa, and all across East Asia and Oceania. This one (below) made its web, or ‘golden orb’, in our garden. The spider constantly …

Up to 50% of people in Japan born after 1995 don’t want babies, according to a recent survey. Known in marketing terms as Generation Z or ‘neo mille‘ (as in …

 My wife found a habu snake coiled up in the bottom of an old bin outside our house. It was quite grubby looking and could have been momentarily mistaken for …

So, the new sakoku* is about to end, albeit gradually, in small stages, bit by bit, as it were, so as not to alarm the locals. Yes, Japan is going …