A few weeks ago, my good friend and I decided to do a joint writing project about Japanese culture and society. …

Tips on sniffing out sensationalist nonsense in our heavily saturated mediascape — Revisiting our ancient past is heavy in the Zeitgeist. We’ve recently seen considerable media focus on questions like the construction of ancient megalithic structures, the prominence of pyramidal megaliths in ancient civilizations around the world, and generally our ancestors’ high degree of precision and craftsmanship. …

And make your Japanese sound way better than it really is — There exists in Japan a pervasive cultural belief that frustrates many trying to learn how to speak Japanese. It is rooted in an idea passed down from a long-gone era, and has infiltrated the media, major Japanese corporations, and the entire education system. The belief can be expressed as follows: …

Is the progressive online space really no country for white men? A lot of people who look like me seem to have gone off the deep end when trying to talk about race and gender. …

Equivalent to the English “OK” and the French “ça va” — I’ve been living in Japan for over six years now. I speak Japanese at home with my lady, at work, and whenever I go out. While I’m by no means native, I think it’s safe to say I’m fluent in the language. Studying Japanese has been a wonderful life experience…

I’m probably not “supposed” to, but I kind of like it — This is gonna be a weird one. A while back, I started getting wind of a gigantic online storm about a podcaster I’d never heard of, this guy named Joe Rogan. He’s an American stand-up comedian and cage fight commentator. In contrast, I’m a Swiss global communications expert with a…

Teetering below greatness — It’s been a while since I last published and I just wanted to say, things have been going above average. For context, I grew up getting above average grades at above average schools in above average neighborhoods. …

Or is it just… —

The world’s greatest city — In June, I wrote a piece on the hardships of living in Tokyo as a foreign white guy. Back then I promised myself I would write the other side of the story; about why I love my Tokyo lifestyle so much. But since then, I’ve been struggling. Turns out, writing…