2020 in review: Staying connected out of sight, but not out of mind
December 29, 2020 (Mainichi Japan)
This March 2020 image shows sections of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial. (The Mainichi/Chinami Takeichi) In early March this year, I met a close friend of mine for the first time since we began talking online, just before my graduation. She lives in a country in Europe quite far from Japan whose name I had never heard of before our unique encounter. Even the young staff member at the airport east of Tokyo read aloud my destination falteringly before breaking into a big smile as if to admit defeat.
2020 in review: An ode to my long-lost love, airplane food
December 27, 2020 (Mainichi Japan)
An Asiana Airlines flight attendant holds an in-flight meal at an event in Tokyo s Chiyoda Ward on Nov. 26, 2020. (Mainichi/Miki Myochin) I miss airplane food. Out of all the places, people and experiences we ve had trimmed from our lives in this plague box we call 2020, perhaps reheated food served in little plastic display cases is an odd thing to hanker for. My desk at The Mainichi office has been abandoned for so long it could be declared an archaeological site. The only contact I ve had with coworkers and friends since late March has been in blue light form, through Zoom and chat windows. TV and movie scenes of big crowds and people at parties unmasked! feel fanciful and strange; surreal artifacts from the Before Times.