Back to Canada

Well, today is our last day in Asia. We will be leaving Hong Kong later this afternoon for our long flight back to Canada. We had a great time, but it seems I’ve caught another cold. That means I will be returning feeling as crappy as I did when I left :P

But the good news is I will be ramping up my posting again. Although our basement is still under construction, and we’ll be digital nomads for a bit, it will be nice to slip into a more regular schedule.

The Head Cold Conundrum

Sorry for the lack of updates this last week. I’ve come down with a head cold that has knocked me on my butt. I was planning on putting together Part 3 of my Japanese learning tools, but that will have to wait until next Tuesday.

Also, we’ll be travelling for business to Malaysia next week. While I hope to update as much as I can, the reality is there will probably be less activity for the next three weeks or so. Again, sorry…I won’t let it happen again :)

2011 Earthquakes WORLDWIDE Plotted and Animated

This is a must see video for anyone interested in earthquake activity. It plots all the earthquakes from 2011 with a visual and audio representation.

As I was watching I was keeping a close eye on the date at the bottom to make sure I was looking in the right area when Japan’s March 11th great earthquake struck. As it turns out, I didn’t need to bother. Wow!

What’s the Deal with Anpanman?

Photo by Eric__I_E on Flickr

You see this little dude everywhere in Japan. From packaging to toys and t-shirts, you can’t seem to get away from Anpanman. But to be honest, I had no idea who this little dude was…

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The State of Social Networking in Japan

Photo by St Stev on Flickr

Sorry for being late with my typical Tuesday post. I was helping a friend with an appointment, so I was away all day yesterday.

Today I came across an interesting article on the popularity of social networking in Japan. The Japanese are certainly big on media consumption, but often it’s done in a completely different way than in the West.

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Japan’s Population Shrinking

Photo by tokyoform on Flickr

Interesting BBC article on how Japan’s population is predicted to shrink by one-third by 2060. There’s some interesting figures on what this will mean, but no exact reasons are given to why the trend is going on. Perhaps it has something to do with singleness being on the rise in Japan?

The research says that Japan’s population will keep declining by one million people every year in coming decades. – BBC

10,000 Free Flights to Japan Not Going Ahead

Photo by FrancoisRoche on Flickr

Stacey just sent me an update to our 10,000 Flight Giveaway story from October last year. It looks like it’s not going to happen. The Japanese Nation Tourism Organization reports that the Japanese Government announced the budget for this proposal and it has been declined, so the flight give away will not be going ahead.

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Singleness on the Rise in Japan

Photo by colodio on Flickr

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about the increase in people deciding on staying single in Japan. With Japan’s single occupant households exceeding 30% recently and the average family unit of 2.46 members is the smallest it’s ever been, it looks like this trend is becoming more and more popular.

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Japan chooses ‘kizuna’ as kanji of 2011

Every year the Japanese public chooses a kanji to represent the year that was. This year’s kanji was ‘kizuna’ meaning bond. Here’s what a BBC article had to say about the selection.

For Japan, 2011 was dominated by the earthquake and tsunami in March. The disasters led to unprecedented numbers of Japanese helping one another. After the tsunami smashed into Japan’s north-east coast on 11 March, killing thousands and engulfing entire communities, people’s stoicism and their determination to pull together won international praise. In April the then prime minister Naoto Kan thanked the world for its help in a letter entitled “Kizuna – the Bonds of Friendship”.

What’s the Deal with the High Yen?

Photo by 7D-Kenny on Flickr

Ever since returning from Japan last May, the yen has been sky-rocketing in comparison to the dollar. With all the trouble Japan has been having with tourism and the nuclear worries over the Fukushima Power Plant, it’s been hard to wrap my head around why this is happening.

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