Clement Nyirenda

My Mexican friend, Jesus Adrian Garcia, had a chance to go to the top of the Landmark Tower, Japan’s tallest building, in Yokohama’s Minato Mirai District. He came back with some breathtaking photos.

I have now stayed in Japan for two years and the more I stay here, the more I like this country. Among other other things, one thing that I like about this country is that even foreigners can apply for government housing.

Last night, I received an email from Paypal notifying me that, starting on March 31st, Paypal customers in Japan will be unable to send personal payments to individuals using the PayPal “send money” service until further notice. They say these changes are necessary in order for them to comply with new regulatory requirements in Japan.

Though I still remain iPhone-less, I really like that gadget. Maybe I will go for the 4G when it becomes available. Apart from the long list of advantages, the iPhone has spawned a massive iPhone apps industry. One of the premier iPhone App publishers here in Japan is APPLIYA Studio, a subsidiary of Softbank Corp., the telecommunication company exclusively in charge of iPhone sales in Japan. As of today, APPLIYA Studio more than 230 apps on the Apple Store.

One of the lovely Japanese friends that I have here is Shimpei Mori. I got acquainted with him in 2002/03 when he was working as a JICA volunteer at Mikolongwe in Malawi. At that time, I was working as a staff associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Malawi Polytechnic. Almost every week, Mori used to visit Eiji Kutsuoka, his fellow JICA volunteer, who used to work in the Department of Architecture at the same institution. Because I was so close to Eiji, with time I got connected to Mori and a few other JICA volunteers as well.

Some time in August 2009, Ki-Africa, a Japan based pro-Africa non-profit organization, invited our group of a few Malawians to a cooking party for African foods. We were specifically asked to teach the Japanese people who attended the event how to cook nsima, Malawi’s stapple food, and beef (nyama ya ng’ombe), in the Malawian way. The event took place at Hacchobori in the Chuo Ward of Tokyo. 

Last weekend my family was invited by Soni Youn, our Korean friend, to watch the Tokyo Bay Fireworks from her workplace, Next, on the 15th floor of one of the buildings on Triton Square facing Tokyo Bay. The Japanese people have a great love for fireworks, and they occur throughout the summer in various neighborhoods of Tokyo. But this show is the biggest of them all.

In Japan, child allowance is provided to every family (that includes gaijin as long as they are staying legally) in which a child is in the 6th grade of elementary school or less and annual income less than a certain threshold. You may apply for it anytime. You can get the application procedures from your ward.