Soaplands: the Japanese Brothel

A soapland is a brothel. You pay a woman to use her naked body to clean you. She gets you all foamed up, uses her boobs and ass like a sponge and then fulfills the rest of your agreement.

If all this is making you reconsider your opinion of prostitution then you certainly aren't alone.


Starting out as a remedy to the illegality of blatant prostitution, soaplands called themselves "Turkish Baths" and pretended nothing funny went on. Some Turkish guy got mad about the stain on the impeccable reputation of his nations bathing and forced a name-change. Did he try it first, I wonder?

Although whoring yourself out is technically illegal, the soaplands work on the basis of renting you the room alone. What you do inside the room is up to you and the woman. It's perfectly legal to agree to exchange money for sexual gratification (and it's going to be something like 20-80,000yen. To be honest I don't really understand where the line is drawn. Some places openly advertise what you can get and for how much, so how this differs from regular prostitution is a mystery to me. Apparently the law (which has no explicit punishment) forbids all types of compensated coital acts, but any other hole, limb or cavity is fine. That doesn't stop open advertisement for FS (furu sekusu), though, which is presumably vaginal. It seems this is because it's so popular and earns the government a lot of tax money.

However, if you want to delve into this world then you better be prepared for racial-based rejection. Something about gaijin is a no-go for a lot of these girls, so be ready for disappointment. I can't give you any first-hand experience, but there are plenty of websites out there to help you find a fitting young lady, and also tell you the hotspots to go looking should you so desire.

I haven't heard of any switched-sex arrangements (i.e. man bathing woman), but an open-minded lady can reportedly get herself a same-sex scrubbing.

A very good and often-cited book about Japan's scorching-hot erotic underworld is "Japan's Sex Trade: A Journey Through Japan's Erotic Sub-Cultures" by Peter Constantine. Well worth reading if you have a genuine interest in the secret life of Japan.


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Mending/Changing the Paper in Shouji Screens

Japanese paper doors may be attractive (at least from the inside), but it's very easy to stick an object through them, as anyone living here will know. Guests staying have a particular knack with this.

Anyway here's a guide to changing/mending the screens (障子を張り替える) if you're nervous or curious.

First of all, shouji paper (washi) comes in several sizes and literally hundreds of types. You can get very high quality stuff, sometimes with beautiful designs (just like the screens themselves), or you can just buy the regular stuff in a supermarket for abour 300yen (it's reportedly possible to get paper-esque plastic, too). It comes in either squares for one panel/section, small rolls or rolls wide enough for the entire lattice (kumiko).

Little shapes

If you only have a small hole to fix, you can buy little shapes to stick over the damage. They can look a bit crappy but a lot of people use them.

1. You can buy special paper loosening liquid in home stores. Alternatively you can usually strip from the frame easily enough with water or steam. Moisten the glue lines and it should come off easily. If you just want to replace one panel then scour around the area and (if you're lucky) you should be able to peel it up and off without disurbing other panes.
   NB: if someone has used the wrong type of glue or if it's been a particularly long time since the paper was changed, it can be very difficult to get off. Use a blunted scraper of some kind if you're left with soggy bits, but be careful not to destroy the lattice.
   
   
2. When the frame is dry again, use shouji glue on the area that needs replacing. Buy the glue in a squeezy bottle in virtually any supermarket. These come with a handy nozzle which will apply the glue universally along the correct distance from the edge of the frame. Keep the glue line very thin (1-2mm).
   If you're doing an entire door, it's fine to apply glue to the whole thing in one go.
   
   
3. For a whole door, place the roll of paper at the bottom (tack or tape it to keep a straight line) and simply roll it gently down to the top. Some more expensive papers will have a smooth and a rougher side. The smooth side should face outwards. If your paper has a pattern, double-check to make sure your orientation is correct.
   For one panel, row, use a small piece and roll or gently apply the paper.
   Don't trim the edges until the glue has dried.
   
   
4. Don't be tempted to use a cloth to smooth out the panels, as this can cause sagging if done too roughly. If you have any bad areas it may be because you used too much glue. In anycase, wait until the glue is dry and then reassess the situation.
   Some people like to spray a fine mist of water onto the doors to tauten the paper.
   
   
5. Trim off the excess. It's pretty frustrating to have half the paper catch and rip off when sliding across another door, so get this bit right.

That's it. The whole process shouldn't take very long. For a whole door, as long as you don't have too much trouble removing the paper, you should be done in ten minutes, and able to trim about an hour later.

Some people get very anal about their doors, and sometimes even want to make their own traditional rice-paste glue. If you want to know how, then here's a guide.

Tips/stories in the comments please!

Robots in my Toilet

Something makes me scared of earthquakes. It's not the danger (my apartment is "earthquake-proof" apparently). It's not the fact that I might spill a beer or bang my head either. It's that my robot collection will fall down the toilet.



As way of an explanation: I live in Japan with my girlfriend, Laura. She is lovely and everything, but she doesn't like robots to clutter up our already small flat. Hence they have been relegated to shelves in the toilet. I have yet to find any sticky device to keep them in place, so fingers crossed for me please! Don't let little Alphonse or Zaku II fall into the stinking toilet bowl!

We only just moved in here, but about sixth months ago our old apartment was shaken by a 6.0 which knocked loads of stuff down, including our full length mirror which kindly smashed all over our tatamis. I am quaking in my boots. HAHAHAHAH get it????????

Anyway, look at some photos (click for more info):





















Kind of dorky hobby it may be, but building robots is a fun way to spend the winter.

Worksheet Sunday: "I Can, Can You?"- Elementary school

Can is one of the staples of low-level English. I've had fun teaching this plan before, so here it is for you. Hopefully it will give you some ideas, at least.

"Can" isn't very hard to explain, and when I taught elementary the kids really enjoyed the lesson. I introduced it about 8-9 months into the year. At this point we had learned some easy verbs like swim, run, walk, jump, fly and climb. This took 35-40 minutes if I remember rightly.

It went like this:

• Practice the action verbs with some kind of gesture game/Simon says.
• Introduce some animals (ideally taught previously or with similar names in Japanese, like penguin, lion, etc). Put their pictures up on the board.
• Put up a poster-sized version of this grid (click to download).
• Go through a few of the animals, saying "This is a penguin. A penguin can swim, but a penguin can't fly." Use gestures/maru and batsu to help translation (no Japanese should be needed). Keep going until they seem to get it. Then ask them "Can an elephant fly?" etc to fill out the remainder of the grid. Just your inflection should be enough for them to get it, you don't need to teach the grammar. You can do all of them if you want/have time.
• Put students into small groups (2~4 students or whatever you want) and give them a completed grid as a regular-sized sheet (or get them to complete it as you do the point above).
• Play the "three hint quiz". Call out three things your chosen animal can/can't do, and they have to shout out which animal it is. If you have time they can then play this with each other/one student infront of the class. You can also bring in things from other lessons, like colours etc as hints.

That's it - simple and fun. If it doesn't last all lesson, you can do something like the janken game:

The Janken Game (10+ minutes)
Great fun game for elementary/low ability. Bigger (over 20 students) classes can be a bit of a strain, and kids at the back of the lines will get bored.

• Make around 10 sheets with a word/picture on each from the target vocab/review (in this case animals),
• Put them up on the board from left to right. For this version, put up a flashcard of one of the verbs,
• Split the class into two groups and line them up either side of the board,
• One student from each group must go along the board shouting out the word from the card/picture and the verb (e.g. a bear can swim, a dog can swim, a bird can't swim),
• When the two students meet in the middle, they janken. The loser goes to the back of his/her group line. 
• The next student from the losing group must start again from the beginning.
• The aim is for one student to get all the way across the board. If they do, the team gets one point and they go to the back of the line.
• Keep going until time is up/they're sick of it.

Note: although you can do this with pretty much any vocab, this isn't a good idea with months or days of the week unless you swap the two groups around halfway.

Getting an MNP Reservation Number

To make use of Japan's Mobile Number Portability, first you'll need to get an MNP Reservation Number (MNP予約番号, MNP yoyaku bangou). Reservation numbers are available through providers' websites and telephone hotlines, but if your Japanese is limited, the most straightforward route to a Reservation Number is a visit to your local cellphone shop.

First, to acquire the number, you need to visit a shop of the provider you are moving away from. If you are on a normal contract, the process will be fast and painless; you'll have an MNP Reservation in a few minutes, and you won't have to pay anything up front. In fact, you won't have to pay anything at all until you use the number. When you do, the charge for the number (usually 2100 yen) will appear on your final bill from the provider you are moving away from. (If you haven't already, make sure you know what kind of [LINK]Early Termination of Contract fees, if any, will apply when you move away from your current provider.)

If you have a [LINK]prepaid phone, things are a little more complicated. Actually, prepaid users can only get an MNP Reservation from a cellphone shop. That means you can't get it online or by calling. It takes about 30 minutes to an hour to process a prepaid cellphone request, since the local shop will have to call the provider headquarters in Tokyo; the request will be processed in the head office, and the time it takes will vary according to the availability of a support technician to process your request.

Also, since prepaid customers don't receive bills, you'll have to pay for the MNP Reservation up front and in cash. If you end up not using the MNP Reservation Number and/or it expires, it will take time and effort to get that money back. (You'll have to visit the exact same shop you made the request at, file a claim for the money, then wait again while that is processed. If you let the MNP Reservation expire, it is up to the shop whether they will allow you to reclaim the money or not.)

You noticed me say "expire" in that last paragraph, right? MNP Reservations are only valid for 15 days from the date of your request. If you don't use the reservation within that time period, it becomes invalid and you'll have to request another.

Once you have the reservation (a long string of digits), just show it to the new provider you want to sign up with. The easiest (and best deal) is to just sign up for a brand new contract with a brand new handset. Most handsets are nearly free when you sign up with MNP, and there is no charge at the new provider for using an MNP Reservation during signup.

For those interested, here are the applicable phone numbers and web portals for requesting MNP Reservation Numbers outside a shop:

• au 
• Telephone: 0077-75470 (9:00-20:00)
• EZweb: [TOP]→[auお客さまサポート]→[申し込む／変更する]→[携帯電話番号ポータビリティ(MNP)] (9:00-21:30)
• Docomo
•  Telephone: 151 (from a Docomo cell) (9:00-20:00)
•  Telephone: 0120-800-000 (9:00-20:00)
•  i-mode: 各種お申込・お手続き　iMenu→お客様サポート→ お申込・お手続き→各種お申込・お手続き→手続き開始（ログイン）→ネットワーク暗証番号入力→各種手続き→携帯電話番号ポータビリティ予約
•  Internet: My docomo（http://www.mydocomo.com/）→ ログイン→ 各種お申込・お手続き→ 携帯電話番号ポータビリティ予約
•  Softbank
•  Telephone: *5533 (from a Softbank cell) (9:00-20:00)
•  Telephone: 0800-100-5533 (9:00-20:00)
•  Yahoo! Keitai: [TOP]→[設定・申込（My SoftBank）]→[各種変更手続き]→[MNP予約関連手続き] (9:00-21:30)

Related:
Cellphones Guide

Mobile Number Portability

Mobile Number Portability (携帯電話番号ポータビリティ―, keitai denwa bangou pootabiritii) is a system imposed by Japanese government legislation since late 2006. The system allows cellphone users to migrate between cellular service providers without changing their telephone number.

Mobile Number Portability (MNP) works like this:
Say you have a cellphone contract with Company A. But maybe you hate Company A passionately, or your new girlfriend has her cellphone with Company B. So, you want to change to Company B and take advantage of their great unlimited calling plan. But, all your friends and coworkers already call you on your current phone number and it seems like it would be a huge hassle to have to tell everyone your new number.

The MNP legislation gives you a right to keep your digits, even if you move to a new provider. It works by requesting an MNP Reservation Number (MNP予約番号, MNP yoyaku bangou) at your current provider.

However, there are some restrictions as to when and where you can use MNP. [LINK]Check out my really convoluted story of getting an MNP number to get an idea of what is and isn't possible.

Related:
Cellphones Guide

Elementary School: The Hello Song vs. "Anything OK"

Those of us teaching English will have reams of stories complaining about the repetitive things we have to do. Read and repeat after Mr Dom, read and repeat...

One of the worst cases for me was The Bloody Hello Song. Last year I taught elementary students one day a week. I loved it and desperately want to do it again. But one thing I don't miss was the shockingly bad

Hell-o-o! Hell-o-o!

Hell-o-o how are you?

I'm fine, I'm fine

And I hope that you are too!

x3, then x3 again with a stupid "gesture dance". At the start of every single lesson.



This was a perfect example of the worst side of teaching in Japan - when all control is removed and the gaijin must perform!

Don't get me wrong, I really love teaching and I don't mind following a set plan one way or another. When it all falls apart is when you're forced to perform in a certain fashion; whether it's to sing one of these awful songs (sometimes to annoying American backing tracks and sometimes cold), or painfully act out some skit with a homeroom teacher with less English than the students. The whole flow breaks down, progress is halted and it's nothing but embarrassing for everyone.

Elementary worked best when it was just me - when the homeroom teacher stood back and only chipped in when needed. It was at its worst when he or she butted-in to explain in Japanese what was intended to be organically learned, or worse just repeated my lines several times.

Maybe they were just inexperienced teaching with an ALT (me). It was the first year it had been done in this way, and several of the teachers were virtually shitting themselves - literally shaking like a leaf for the whole lesson. But for this particular school there was as-good-as a script for each lesson. All the teacher needed to do was chime in from time to time and not screw up my bit. I'd say two-thirds of them managed that.

However, I also worked at a different elementary. This one was very small (only one class per grade) and the English-level of the teachers was abysmal. I'd teach two classes there. The first was a case of "repeat after me" and used a missplaced textbook.

The second was something all teachers will shudder at the sound of: "anything OK". It took several classes of the teacher turning to me at the start and saying "Free lesson!" for me to understand quite what was happening. It turns out he was so scared that he wouldn't even try to teach English. The first few times I replied with "huh?", after which he would turn to the class and shout "janken champion!". The rest of the lesson would be one big game of rock-paper-scissors in Japanese. Once I cottoned-on I started to prep proper classes for them. That was fine - it's fun. But those words will forever haunt me... "Mr Dom... free lesson!"

So what have we learned? Well, it doesn't seem to matter whether you have complete control or are entirely directed, you're still a very difficult tool to use. Be prepared for this and plan for every eventuality. If you're in control, have a backup lesson planned in case everything falls apart (at least a game or something). If you aren't, be prepared anyway just in case it turns out that you actually are. Lose all self-consciousness or you won't get through the Hello Song with your sanity intact, and make sure that you never have to revert to the pathetic Janken Champion.

Worksheet Sunday: Japanese Second Grade JHS (12/13yo) Syllabus (New Crown)

This is simply a typed up list of the vocab and important phrases taught in the second volume of New Crown. It's useful to have as a reference of what is learned when when designing worksheets/bingo. There's nothing worse than slipping in a load of words students don't know yet and complicating a simple activity.

It may also be interesting for those of you who want a better idea of the form teaching English takes in Japan.

As usual, click here to view in Google Docs, but you'll want to save a copy.

Getting Gas/Petrol in Japan

Petrol prices vary a lot.

I live in a small city in the mountains, and it's much more expensive to fill your tank here than in other places. The rationale for that is the holes in the mountains. Gas tankers aren't allowed to drive through tunnels because of the potentially devastating results of an accident, so to get to cities like mine they need to do some massive detours. This results in an almost 10% markup. In Tokyo expect to pay around 125-133yen per regular litre right now. Here in Iida you'll pay something like 137-140. High octane is about 10 yen more expensive, and diesel is around 20 yen cheaper (110ish). These figures are liable to change with the economy, but you get the idea.

Still, it pays to shop around. If you look hard you can find petrol for 134ish near here, and if you feel flush you can find it a couple of yen above 140, too. This is arguably due to the quality, however, so consider that before going for the cheapest gas you've ever seen. If possible, get a resident to give you the low-down on local gas stations.

You can also save a few yen with store discount cards, so snap one up if you see them at your local Eneos or Cosmo etc.

However, similarly in the US and UK, whether or not there is a difference at all is up for debate. The general idea with cheap petrol in England, at least, is that it's used to attract customers to what is usually a supermarket. Here, the cheap petrol is from "unnamed" standalone stations (i.e. not the big players like Shell, Eneos etc). There doesn't seem to be any solid proof that anyone's gas is better or worse than anyone elses...

You've probably heard of the Japanese gas station attendants and their ridiculous over-courtesy. It's true, but there are also self-service stands which will save you a couple of yen per litre. Look for the セルフ (serufu) sign.

So, for the cheapest fuel find a city relatively close to a port (at least without mountains in the way) and go self-service.

The Dark Extremes of Japanese Adult Entertainment

For a country often lauded on marks of social sensitivity and public safety, Japan has its share of dark patches. One of the most shocking by Western standards is the porn industry.

Warning:

This post is disgusting. If you don't want to be offended and saddened, you probably shouldn't read it.

Without even considering hentai, Japanese porn has a lot going against it. For a start, Japanese censorship laws dictate that the important bits must be pixelated, which means that you can't quite see why the girl is acting like she's in so much pain.

But despite those harsh restrictions, adult media is very publicly available across the country; nearly every Japanese convenience store has an "Adults Only" section of the magazine rack. And perhaps because of censorship restrictions, the variety of content in the country is never-ending. Unedited depiction of intercourse is illegal, but only in the letter of the law. Imagery of obscene acts involving body fluids, uniforms, costumes, game shows, or even insects, sells in droves. And Japanese people who don't approve of it seem to simply avert their eyes.

The Internet has fostered a similar haven of deviance on a global scale. And yes, it probably out-does Japan every time. But only in Japan does it seem to be granted a physical body. Only here can you walk into a store and see this:

This whole section is titled レイプ, or "rape" to you and me. This type of porn typically makes up about 20% of all porn sales. Try as I might, I've only ever found one shelf of men being raped with strap-ons.

I've heard a lot of people defend Japan's violent sexual media as an outlet for what would otherwise be a rapist or paedophile. And the criminal numbers seem to be in favour of that excuse. UN statistics indicate Japan's rape averages as 1/24th that of the USA and 1/20th the UK's.

Further investigation, however, produces a different explanation: The definition of "what rape is" in Japan is very narrow, and attempted prosecution may lead not only to a rejected case, but to the blame being attributed to the victim (see Sexual Violence and the Law in Japan by Catherine Burns); thanks to a severe gender bias in the legal system. For this reason, it is possible that many more Japanese victims exist who are unwilling to report the crime (though numbers of reports have started to increase since a high-profile serial-gang-rape case made national news.)

The idea that watching rape porn quells the desire for real rape is generally argued to be false. Indeed, how could it be otherwise? Surely a rapists desire isn't just one of observing the mistreatment of a woman, but actively being involved in it. The absurd popularity of this genre only supports the concept of rape being "a fantasy, rather than a crime" for many Japanese men.

Even more disturbing, but very telling of the industry's unrestrained extent, is this section; liable to turn up in many adult shops:

This is lolita porn, not in the "Barely Legal" sense, but featuring real kids. Children.

It flies under the radar because there's no "actual" nudity or abuse. The kids are just provocatively posing or messing around, and the director passes it off as artistic (presumably the intense camel-toe on the girl on the left is just incidental then). But this is for sale. In the porn section.

I don't know what else to say.

Buying a Car in Japan

I've just bought a car. It's a 2005 Nissan Cube. Very Japanese.

If you are living in Japan outside of a big city you will probably need some mode of transport. I just used a bike for the first 18 months in my town, but my girlfriend and I quickly got bored of bumming lifts off people and not being able to take decent day-trips (our city has what is known as "the slowest train in Japan" for a reason).

Long story short, we got there in the end. Here are the steps you must take if you want to buy:


1. Ask your employer if it is okay for you to drive to work, if you intend to.

• Yes, it sounds ridiculous.

2. Get a Japanese or International driving licence if you don't already have one (duh).

• I had no licence at all. Guide to getting a Japanese driving licence from scratch.

3. Find a parking space within a 2km radius of your house.

• You will need to register this with the police and pay for it before you can have your car. Full guide here.

4. Register your hanko/inkan to your gainjin card.

• You need an inkanshoume, or proof of the validity of your inkan, from your employer.This is necessary for buying something as big as a car, but nothing else (other than real-estate) it seems. Guide here.

5. Find a car.

• I used a combination of local dealerships, carsensor.net, and goo-net.com. If you want a specific model you may find yourself looking much further afield than you would back home. In the end I had to drive a 600km round-trip to view and buy my lovely Cube. But if you aren't picky you shouldn't have any problems.
• It's also possible to buy from a previous teacher in your area. Often leaving gaijin will be in a hurry to sell off their belongings and a real bargain can be found. But beware of the potential shaken (MOT) cost (see below)! A regional mailing list is a good place to look for this.
  
• NB: Choosing a car can be tough, made more so by Japanese tax laws. Tax varies depending on the power of your vehicle. Yellow-plate, or K-cars have been designed to fit into the lowest tax bracket. They are cheaper all-round, but at 660cc aren't the best choice if you think you'll do a lot of highway driving.
  
  NB: The price the dealer will initially show you often does not include many taxes and fees. Sometimes it won't even include the shaken. A good rule of thumb is to predict a cost of 200,000 more than the price in the window. Sometimes it's 50,000, sometimes even more than 250,000.

6. Haggle a bit.

• Pretty similar to Western countries. If you're lucky you can knock a few man off the price. Try for updated GPS software if it comes with a machine, and always ask for a full tank of gas. Do this last point when you have virtually agreed to buy. My friend bought a Mazda ZX8 from a reputable dealer which turned up with an empty tank.

NB: PAYING
To pay in installments you will either need a credit card which will allow you to borrow the full amount and pay up front, or a Japanese guarantor. The latter is not easy to come by.

7. Fill out all the paperwork.

• Aside from what you will fill out and stamp at the dealership, they will need your inkanshoume and your parking certification returned to them before you can hope to receive your car.
• Getting the parking certificate sorted will take about a week. From purchase to delivery will be something in the region of 2 weeks depending on how fast you can get your share of the paperwork processed.

8. Vehicle name change and registration.

• The car you're buying will need to be registered under your name, of course. It may also need to be registered to your prefecture if it isn't already. There will be a particular city the car will need to be taken to and dealt with. Try to get this included in the price.

9. Get it delivered.

• This is the easiest option, especially if they are doing the name change etc for you. It can cost 20,000-50,000 or more depending on where the car is coming from, but it's well worth it unless you love paperwork and wasting your time (and holiday days) traveling to one-horse towns.

Things to check on prospective cars:

• Shaken/MOT.
  This is basically a certificate of being road-worthy. All cars must be shakened every 2 years (a new one gets 3 initially). A K-car should be able to pass this for 100-150,000 yen if there are no problems. A white-plate would be more like 150-250,000. You can save a ton of money doing the shaken yourself, but will need a lot of patience and decent Japanese. A future post will cover this process.

• Accident history.
  Vehicles that have previosly had to be repaired will be considerably cheaper, but carry various risks along with that. Who knows how it will hold up in regular use, or what would happen to it in another accident. But hey, if it passed the shaken...

• Mileage.
  Japanese people tend to consider a "high mileage" to be 100,000km, and will usually scrap the vehicle not long after that. Of course, you and I know that 100,000km is no reason to scrap anything, and real bargains can be picked up here. Bear in mind you may have to replace the timing belt (about 50,000yen) at some point.
   
• Kilometres per litre.
  If you can only think in miles per galon then here's a handy converter. Anything over 15 km/l is pretty fair in my book.

Additional costs:

• Annual tax
  I pay around 50,000yen for my 1400cc white plate.

• Parking
  If you don't have a garden or driveway to park in, expect to pay anything from 2,000 to 100,000 per month depending on your location.

• Optional insurance
  Although this is called "optional" it is pretty much essential. If you knock over and kill someone on the road you will have to pay 1.5 million pounds (2.5 million dollars). The compulasory insurance will only pay out a maximum of 3 million yen.
  The price ranges from 70,000yen per year for basic cover on a K-car up to 240,000yen per year for full coverage on a high-class white plate.

• Snow tires
  If, like mine, your prefecture gets a lot of snow you will need to buy snow tires (スタードレスタイアー), or chains. Snow tires should cost around 10,000 each, chains will be less than half that.

• ETC machine
  An ETC machine is a little box which uses your ETC card to automatically pay highway tolls as you drive through the gate. It is much cheaper than not using one. The machine and installation will cost you under 20,000yen, and you should be able to get an ETC card if you can get a Japanese credit card. You can also hire a card, but the deposit is massive. If you're intending to drive on the highway, one of these is a must.

Miss anything? Let me know in the comments.

Worksheet Sunday: Japanese First Grade JHS (11/12yo) Syllabus (New Crown)

This is simply a typed up list of the vocab and important phrases taught in the first volume of New Crown. It's useful to have as a reference of what is learned when when designing worksheets/bingo. There's nothing worse than slipping in a load of words students don't know yet and complicating a simple activity.

It may also be interesting for those of you who want a better idea of the form teaching English takes in Japan.

As usual, click here to view in Google Docs, but you'll want to save a copy.