PinnedAmélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaThe Truth about Buying an Akiya or Vacant House in Japan — An Interview With Matt KetchumAkiya, or vacant houses in Japan, have become a hot topic on international news websites. Articles about Japan giving away countryside…·16 min read·Dec 20, 2023--1--1
PinnedAmélie GeeraertinKokoro Media‘Becoming Like the Sky’: an Encounter with a Street Monk in GinzaIn Tokyo, Buddhist priests chanting sutras in the streets, with their traditional robes and straw hats, have become an exotic sight not…·16 min read·Dec 28, 2023----
PinnedAmélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaThree Great Japanese Novels by Female AuthorsI have always loved reading as far as I can remember. As I kept asking, “What’s written here?” and “What’s written there?”, my grandfather…·8 min read·Jan 31, 2024----
PinnedAmélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaHow The Japanese Generation Z Is Bringing ChangeThese last years, I have come across many articles about the generational gaps between the baby boomers, the millennials, and generation Z…·6 min read·Feb 12, 2024--1--1
PinnedAmélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaJapanese Cram Schools Are Not What You Think — An Interview with Takahiro GotoTakahiro Goto is the director and a teacher at the cram school “GS Shingaku Kyoshitsu” in Hachioji City in the Greater Tokyo Area. Cram…·18 min read·Dec 2, 2023--1--1
Amélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaAre Tokyo’s Streets Really Clean?Tokyo’s street cleanliness is a natural object of admiration among foreign visitors. “Japanese people don’t litter” has become one of the…·2 min read·Mar 15, 2024----
Amélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaThe Other Side of Japanese PunctualitySome time ago, I talked with a colleague about the different forms Japanese thoughtfulness can take. She then remembered her manager at a…·2 min read·Mar 15, 2024----
Amélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaThe Value of Face-to-Face Meetings in Japanese BusinessJapanese companies love meetings. Comments I frequently read on social media from foreign workers living in Japan are: “There are too many…·3 min read·Mar 15, 2024----
Amélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaMy Japanese Supermarket Culture ShocksAfter living in a different country for many years, you adapt to the local lifestyle and tend to forget the things that surprised you in…·4 min read·Mar 14, 2024----
Amélie GeeraertinKokoro MediaGetting along with Japanese Neighbors with GiftsNo later than last night, I took part in the economic exchange known as bartering.·3 min read·Mar 14, 2024----