No doubt Autumn’s sneaking up on us now, and while most folk will be concentrating on which hikes to get in before the real cold hits (or what food to stock up on for the winter), it should also beg the question of whether or not to book yourself in for a jab in the [...]

Here we are just one week out from having forty fresh new faces on the island. Another week on from that and we’ll have our eighty plus intake of new JETs arrived and ready to get on with their Hokkaido lives. Much as I hate saying goodbye to friends, meeting the newcomers [...]

The G8
Much has been made of this already on the forums, and in attempt to keep this as apolitical as possible, I request anybody in the vicinity of the summit to be very well aware of the stringency of security measures and the fallout that may occur if you are to believed to be ‘mixed-up’ [...]

Recent events, while tragic for those involved, are also a timely reminder for those of us living here, where earthquakes are always a possibility. Hokkaido is generally ‘lucky’ in that our share in the natural disaster pot tends to be minimal, earthquakes do happen, and when they do, you’ll sure be a much happier camper [...]

I was planning to update this weekly. Clearly, that hasn’t happened, but from this is where things will really start to pick up and where each week there WILL be more information to post, so please check back regularly and I hope to have something to offer that may be of help.

Any kind of disaster quickly brings about jammed phone-lines and, if-any, patchy internet service. To combat these issues NTT, Docomo, Softbank, and au have their own disaster message boards available for use in disaster situations.
Users leave messages via voice-mail on NTT or text for the mobile companies, and it is hoped that instead of [...]