Blog

Many of you have escaped Japan for the summer, and I cannot blame you. It's HOT. Although, this summer has held many surprises -- extra typhoons bringing in much needed rain and some powerful gusts of wind. Beautiful sunny days followed by remnants of June's rainy season. Like elsewhere in the world, the weather in Tokyo (and Japan) is unpredictable these days... and so, as most of you are experiencing, is the economy.

Hello All!

I hope you are doing whatever you can to stay cool in Tokyo's "heat-island" summer.

When I began writing "Freelancing in Tokyo," there were signs that the Japanese economy was "slipping." The bounty of well-paying jobs for native-English speakers in Japan was very slowly becoming a dearth. However, I believed (and still do) that opportunities abound here for freelancers, which is why I decided to finish the book. Even at publication time, the number of foreigners coming to make a go of it in Tokyo was continuing to grow.

Last night we had an excellent Freelancing in Tokyo networking night at Kimono Wine Bar & Grill. Not only was the food great (as always), it was the first time that everyone had their business cards on them; as such, we were able to connect the Japanese way, via meishi koukan (exchanging business cards).