Category Archives: Choosing a location

Choosing a location for your business

Naramachi ならまち

September 24, 2009 – 5:25 am

  During the “Silver Week” holidays my wife, めぐみ　and I visited Nara 奈良市, which is now very convenient for us as there are trains every 20 minutes from Nishinomiya Hanshin Station 西宮駅 direct to Nara.

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Kitano Ijinkan 北野異人館 Revisited

September 14, 2009 – 1:23 am

When we first explored the Kobe 神戸市 area as possibly somewhere to live when we moved to Japan, Kitano-cho 北野町 immediately struck us as a very special sort of place.

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Let’s Talk – Food & Drinks

September 2, 2009 – 10:09 pm

In the “Let’s Talk” Question and Answer Item in the Smith’s School of English スミス英会話 curriculum,  Question 8 asks: “Have you ever complained in a restaurant?” I have not yet had a student at my English school,  Smith’s School of English, Kawanishi, answer this in the affirmative, and I can’t remember complaining in a restaurant myself (at least [...]

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Franchise Owners' Speak, Living in Japan, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Onsen 温泉 – A Great Japanese Tradition

August 20, 2009 – 3:51 am

  Ever since my first visit to Japan, almost 20 years ago, I have always loved visiting the country’s great traditional hot springs 温泉. My first visit to an onsen was in Nita , in Shimane-ken 島根県. Although I had read much of the etiquette of the onsen, I was lucky enough, on that occasion [...]

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Franchise Owners' Speak, Free Advice English Schools, Living in Japan, a reward in itself, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Another Journey in Time – Nose Myoken-san Temple 能勢妙見山堂

August 5, 2009 – 1:06 am

  Earlier this summer I wrote a post about a trip that I took to Myokenguchi 妙見口 see HERE. At the end of that article I promised a return visit, which I did last Sunday. This time we visited Myoken-san, the location of  Nose Myoken-san Temple 能勢妙見山堂, headquarters of the Nichiren Buddhist sect.

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Franchise Owners' Speak, Living in Japan, a reward in itself, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

How do I set up an English Language School in Japan?

July 28, 2009 – 11:14 pm

スミス英会話奈良西大寺校の日本語のメインサイトはこちら I remember entering this exact search into Google and Yahoo many years ago when I decided that I wanted to come to Japan and set up my own English language school in Japan.  I remember searching and searching and I found a seemingly never-ending number of websites, blogs, ads, newsletters.  I would search and [...]

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My Kind of Town part 3

July 19, 2009 – 8:29 pm

  BMX flying One aspect of Nishinomiyahama 西宮浜, where I have lived for almost a year and a half, that I have not mentioned before in this series is the variety of sports and leisure activities that go on there almost throughout the year. There is always so much going on both on land and [...]

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Franchise Owners' Speak, Living in Japan, a reward in itself, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (5)

My WabiSabi 侘寂 Photographs

July 13, 2009 – 5:16 am

  Birds in Flight – Isle of Wight I have seen many definitions of wabisabi 侘寂, but that which appeals to me the most is the idea of beauty arising out of a transient moment, out of elements that in themselves contain the imperfections of the natural world. The words wabi and sabi also suggest [...]

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Franchise Owners' Speak, a reward in itself, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (5)

My Kind of Town part 2

June 22, 2009 – 11:30 pm

I was reading a feature on the Japan Times website recently. This article was entitled Silent Spring in Tokyo and bemoaned the lack of any sign of wildlife in the Tokyo suburb where the author lives (he states that it is about an hour’s train ride from midtown). All that I can say to the writer [...]

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Living in Japan, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot, rewarding job change | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

My Kind of Town part 1

May 25, 2009 – 3:34 am

I visited Japan many times since I first met my wife, Megumi, over 15 years ago. Our short trips were based in Matsue, where Megumi grew up, and where many members of her family still live. Over the years we visited Tokyo, Hiroshima, Hagi, Nagasaki, Tsuwano, Kobe and many other places in Japan. The first [...]

By John C | Also posted in English School Articles, Franchise Owners' Speak, Living in Japan, a reward in itself, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

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