CONNECT Magazine #137 - Winter 2026

Issue No. 137

January 2026

16 | From English Teacher to Shinto Priest 22 | Senpai Spotlight

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Letter from the TEAM The new year arrives quietly but firmly. The calendar changes, schedules shift, and we are expected to begin again. Does anything actually feel different on January first? Maybe not. Still, there is something reassuring about having another chance to pause, look around, and decide how we want to move forward.

We would like to take a moment to express our gratitude. CONNECT has always been shaped by its community.

By the people who write, edit, photograph, design, share, and read these pages. By the wider Englishspeaking community in Japan that continues to support and challenge us. This magazine exists because you care about connection, storytelling, and shared experience.

Setting intentions at the start of the year is not a modern habit. Long before planners and goal-setting apps, people used the new year as a time to reflect and make promises, both to themselves and to others. It can look like a handwritten list of goals, a quiet hope carried into the months ahead, or the first shrine visit of the year. Some people make resolutions every year, while others have given up on them entirely. Either way, the idea remains the same. We take a moment to ask ourselves what matters now.

So as we step into 2026, we look ahead with curiosity rather than certainty. There are new voices to hear, new ideas to explore, and plenty of room for growth. Wherever you find yourself right now, hopeful, unsure, motivated, or still waking up from winter, there is space for you here.

Here’s to beginnings that are messy, meaningful, and entirely your own.

Thank you for reading,

Not all beginnings are dramatic.

Some come in the form of small adjustments. Trying something new, returning to something you once loved, or choosing to be a little gentler with yourself than you were last year. Those smaller shifts often end up lasting the longest.

The CONNECT Head Editing Team

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CONNECT | Outdoors Entertainment 6 Pocket Money: A Look Into Japan’s Retro Arcade Games

CONNECT | People Culture 16 From English Teacher to Shinto Priest 18 Wasuremono: Lost and Found in Japan Community 22 Senpai Spotlight: Richard Halberstadt

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Credits & Content ADMIN ASSISTANT

HEAD DESIGNER

Diane Yett connect.adminassistant@ ajet.net

Renee Stinson visualmedia.connect@ajet.net

ASSISTANT HEAD DESIGNER Taylor Sanders connect.assistantdesigner1@ ajet.net

This magazine contains original photos used with permission, as well as free-use images. All included photos are property of the author unless otherwise specified. If you are the owner of an image featured in this publication, please contact the Head Designer, Renee Stinson, at visualmedia.connect@ajet.net.

This edition and all past editions of CONNECT can be found online at https://connect.ajet.net/category/online-issues/ or on our website. Read CONNECT online and follow us on ISSUU.

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WRITING TEAM

SOCIAL MEDIA

Kimberly Matsuno Marco Rice Chantal Gervais John Megow Tori Kusukawa Maritza De La Peña Jackie Husted Alayna Blaylock Úna O’Shea

Taylor Hamada Amari Stapleton Vicanda Ma

PR MANAGER Daisy Thor-Poet

CONTRIBUTORS ASSISTANT DESIGNERS Indy Inoue Jessica Barton Vaughn McDougall

Jackie Husted Maritza De La Peña Angelinne Moreno Destiny Torres

WEB EDITORS Joseph Coston Nathan Vonderahe

COPY EDITORS Kaitlin Stanton Brianne Dy

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Outdoors ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Chantal Gervais

ENTERTAINMENT DESIGNER Taylor Sanders

ENTERTAINMENT COPY EDITOR Kaitlin Stanton

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Pocket Money: A Look Into Japan’s Retro Arcade Games Maritza De La Peña (Nara)

駄菓子屋

After school, allowance in hand, children run to the nearby shop to indulge in an array of cheap candies and snacks, all lined on shelves, displayed on tables, and ready to be grabbed. Some of these shops might even have games, affordable and easy to play. These shops are called dagashiya and these games are ‘metal coin’ or ‘10 yen’ games.

Popularized during the Showa Era, they provided a refuge for children to indulge in their favorite treats while out and about with their friends. These shops are harder to find today, especially those that still have these retro games.

Tucked away on the second floor of an open courtyard in Kobe, Hyogo, a small shop sets out to preserve this kind of nostalgia for 10 yen games, metal games, and dagashiya as a whole. The shop is filled with many different kinds of machines, each emitting flashing lights and sounds meant to draw people near.

By the entrance, there is a small table filled with candy– new and traditional– to be bought or sometimes exchanged with coins won in the games.

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The customers of this shop are both adults and children. It sits next to a juku, a private school for small children, and serves as a perfect place for the neighborhood kids to come and play. Some parents bring their children to introduce them to games they might have grown up with themselves. Some customers are just enthusiastic fans of specific games or retro games as a whole.

Greeting you from the back corner is Chikira Kazuya, the shop owner, who can sell you the coins needed to play. He describes a family who drove 18 hours to come play one of the retro 10 yen games in the store, and someone who came by ferry from Fukuoka to play a popular rock, paper, scissors game.

There are fewer 10 yen games in the shop–but all of them are labeled as vintage 1970s. As the name indicates, these games only cost ten yen.

However, they will spit out metal coins as prizes if you win. They have levers which control a ball and through skill, you can try to shoot the ball into the correct slots.

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Meanwhile, the metal games on display require you to insert special metal coins, which can be bought at the counter. After acquiring your bucket of metal coins, you insert them into the machines and acquire even more coins as you win the games. The machines can be more analog, such as one game where you try to get a coin to land onto a small plate. Others have simple betting mechanics, like rock paper scissors. Or, they can be digital, like the Konami game in the center of the store.

Sometimes you can insert more than one metal coin into the game which may increase your odds of winning.

Maintaining these games has its challenges. The parts are difficult to source, so when a machine is broken, Chikira has to fix the machine himself with his father, who has more experience. A couple of the machines display “Out of Order” signs–one of the games in particular is the only one of its kind, making it impossible to fix until he can source replacement parts.

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“This is for fixing the screen [for one of the broken games] but because the plug outlet is not the right type, I can’t use it.” Chikira shows one of the mechanisms stashed away behind his counter.

In 2023, the Imperial Data Bank reported that about 8,000 games centers have closed within the last ten years.

Plus, with inflation, the rising cost of electricity, and the lowered value of the yen, some game centers have had to increase their pricing over the years.

Metal and 10 yen coin games may be rare now, but are still deeply appreciated by many people. Some are parents who feel a certain nostalgia towards passing down their own memories of visiting dagashiya, 100 yen coins jingling in their pockets. And some are children who visit on their own and enjoy having a space for affordable play.

“I want a place for children to learn about things they didn’t know about before. To group together, meet up, and have fun.”

Chikira says. He shows this by helping his customers with the games, explaining the rules and giving strategies on how to win. In the morning, a family visits for the first time. Many more families come throughout the day–returning and new customers alike. When the juku next door releases a crowd of children in the afternoon, the place will get even more crowded.

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If you’re able to visit a dagashiya with retro games, each of the games are easy enough to figure out. You can just pop in your coin and jump right into playing.

“For the full experience, you should definitely try some candy while you play”Chikira recommends.

Here are four of the games you can find at his shop and the gameplay mechanics:

Janken Janken is a simple game where you press three buttons to determine rock, paper, or scissors. If you beat the game, a roulette will spin and you win the number of medals that it lands on. You can win between one and fifty metals.

Circus Circus is a game from 1978. It is a 10 yen, skill-based, game where you pull a level to propel a small ball into the winning slot. Some of the slots will help the ball move lower, towards the bottom where the winning hole is. You have to carefully get the ball down each level without landing in a hole that will cause a game over.

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Pin Pon Pan

Pin Pon Pan can either accept ten yen or special, larger, metal coins specific to this game. If you receive winning metal coins, you can also exchange them for some candy. This is another skill based game where you pull a level in order to move the ball into the correct slot. There are several levels that you pull levers for and propel the ball into the goal. It should land into the tulips in the center. If the ball passes through three tulips, the light will go off. You can win up to 45 coins.

Shuriken Boy Shuriken Boy is an electronic game from 1993 where you insert metal coins (up to three). There is only one button that you press while a character runs across the screen in side-scroller fashion. The goal of the game is to hit the targets using the red button, which causes the boy to throw shuriken sideways.

The number of shuriken is dependent on the number of coins you insert. Throwing more shuriken will increase the number of coins won if you hit a target.

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If you’re interested in visiting Chikira’s shop, you can check out the website here https://iko-yo.net/facilities/173961.

Maritza De La Peña currently lives in Nara Prefecture, where she often goes on walks to admire the archeological sites and rice fields near her home. You might also find her with a book in hand or excitedly staring out train windows.

People CULTURE EDITOR

COMMUNITY EDITOR

Marco Rice

Marco Rice

CULTURE DESIGNER

COMMUNITY DESIGNER

Indy Inoue

Vaughn McDougall

CULTURE COPY EDITOR

COMMUNITY COPY EDITOR

Brianne Dy

Brianne Dy

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From

English Teacher to Shinto Priest Destiny Torres (Chiba)

estled on a hill in Chiba’s countryside, surrounded by trees shifting into hues of red, orange, and yellow, one of the region’s oldest shrines is preparing for its annual Good Harvest Festival. The rhythmic beat of the odaiko echoes through the woods as visitors climb the stone steps toward Nakoshiyama Shrine, where a traditional sarutahiko dance is about to begin.

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“Many shrines have their own way of praying and their own particular events,” says Shinto priest Mayumi Saito, who is documenting the ceremony her son leads.

English teacher. She taught at local junior high schools while adjusting to her new life in the Saito household; a family that had served Nakoshiyama Shrine for over 1,500 years.

“My husband was born in this house. The Saito family has kept this house for almost 1,500 years,” she recalls.

Her life took a difficult turn when her husband passed away from cancer. With two young boys to raise, Mayumi made a decision that would change her future.

She retired early at age 55 and entered priesthood training.

But Mayumi Saito wasn’t always a Shinto priest.

“The guji [main priest] is my son. He is the 64th generation,” she says with pride.

When she first moved to Minamiboso, Chiba, Mayumi was newly married and beginning her career as an

Mayumi herself now serves as gon negi, the third-ranking priest of Nakoshiyama Shrine.

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Nakoshiyama Shrine is recorded as one of the oldest shrines in the region and can be found in the 927 Engishiki Jinmyocho from the Heian period. Its history is deeply tied to the agricultural cycles of Minamiboso, reflected in the many ceremonies held throughout the year.

One of the shrine’s most remarkable traditions is its sake brewing; a practice almost entirely lost among Japanese shrines. It is now one of four shrines in Japan that continue the practice.

“In the early Meiji period, almost all shrines brewed

sake, but the introduction of taxes changed that. But the people of this shrine wanted to maintain it, so we pay the tax,” Mayumi explains.

The brewing begins in the heat of August so that the sake is ready for Minamiboso’s largest event: the Yawata Festival, where shrines from across the region gather to celebrate the harvest.

Though deeply traditional, Nakoshiyama Shrine is anything but stuck in the past.

Shrines across Chiba are innovating while preserving their unique cultural practices.

Mayumi is part of the Women’s Shinto Priest Association, which supports collaboration between shrines and develops new ways to invite visitors.

“Previously, people didn’t visit shrines in the countryside, but recently with goshuin, ema, and omikuji, it has helped.”

The association recently created a special Chiba-kun shaped ema, set to be released in December 2025.

famous traditional fan of the Boso area.

“It’s a famous traditional craft, and a way for people to purify themselves,” Mayumi explains.

And while shrines are known for their busy New Year’s season, she notes that their work never truly slows: “We are busy all year round.

There are big festivals, but also smaller ones as well.”

Nakoshiyama Shrine is also working with local artisans to craft 2,000 boshu uchiwa, a

“

“Previously, people didn’t visit shrines in the countryside, but recently with goshuin, ema, and omikuji, it has helped.”

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“Shrines are a place of praying, tradition, and community.”

Despite her formal responsibilities, Mayumi remains deeply connected to the local community. She still participates in Englishspeaking circles as a hobby, supported by the Minamiboso International Exchange Association.

For many locals, the shrine is more than a place of worship.

“What is special about shrines is we are very close to people. Sometimes people visit me just to talk,” she says. “Shrines are a place of praying, tradition, and community.”

“The JET CIRs helped create the English circle,” she notes, smiling.

Behind all torii gates lies a story that is ancient, modern, and uniquely local waiting to be uncovered.

Nakoshiyama Shrine is only one example of the countless shrines across Japan with deep histories, evolving traditions, and community members whose lives are intertwined with the places they serve.

Destiny Torres is a 3rd year JET in Chiba. She enjoys documenting different experiences in Japan through vlogs and writing. You can often find her reading a book, journaling, volunteering, and traveling.

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Wasuremono: Lost and Found in Japan

Jackie Husted (Shizuoka)

A photolog of forgotten items and the deeper meaning within them

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onsideration for others is woven deeply into the fabric of Japan’s society. It’s everywhere—in the language, on quiet trains, in queues and crowds. If you pay attention, you can see it nearly every time you step outside, in the form of small lost objects.

Go for a walk in any neighborhood in Japan and you’ll start to notice a pattern: small items in conspicuous places. Forgotten things, or wasuremono.

You’ll see them thoughtfully hung up on a tree or placed delicately on a post, rescued from the pavement where they fell. Keychains, gloves, charms, and any number of other small treasures, patiently waiting and hoping to be noticed by their original owners.

It’s a reflection of an important part of the culture here. In Japan, lost property is taken seriously. If something is found, it must be taken care of. For the smallest personal effects, this might just mean moving it carefully to the side of a walkway.

Otherwise, these items are turned in to local police or station staff.

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Koban and train stations have entire departments dedicated to reuniting people with things. This extends even to cash. In 2024, in Tokyo alone, a reported 4.49 billion yen in lost cash was turned in.

When asked why lost items are treated with such respect, Japanese people often seem confused by the question itself. It is a concept so ingrained from such an early age that many can’t consider an alternative.

After some prompting, a few Japanese coworkers I spoke to thought this cultural pattern might be attributed to a strong desire to be kind to others, bolstered by an undercurrent of societal pressure to do the right thing. One coworker brought up something called ichinichi ichizen—a well-known and widely practiced proverb meaning “one good deed a day.”

So much good samaritanship has resulted in a surplus of unclaimed items in lost and found. These can be costly for police and train stations to manage for long periods of time. As a solution, some areas have started up lost item markets, such as the Railway Forgotten Market in Osaka, where long-term unclaimed items go on sale at a deep discount. These can be great places to score high-quality umbrellas, among other things, for cheap.

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So much good samaritanship has resulted in a surplus of unclaimed items in lost and found. These can be costly for police and train stations to manage for long periods of time. As a solution, some areas have started up lost item markets, such as the Railway Forgotten Market in Osaka, where long-term unclaimed items go on sale at a deep discount. These can be great places to score high-quality umbrellas, among other things, for cheap.

Ever-present and often overlooked, wasuremono are a gentle, constant reminder of the consideration and respect so ingrained in Japanese culture. Each one paints a warm picture of a thoughtful stranger making sure even the smallest of trinkets isn’t neglected, hoping it is someday reunited with the owner that is missing it.

Next time you go for a walk, keep an eye out. What small treasures will you notice?

Jackie Husted is a JET ALT based in Shizuoka. She loves cafes, birds, and going off on tangents just to see how far they can go.

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Senpai spotlight:

Richard Halberstadt Angelinne Moreno (Miyagi)

“all,”I really had no idea about Japan at Mr. Haberstadt shares as he

recounts his initial considerations before moving from Berkshire, England to Yamagata, Japan at the age of 22 in 1988. Born to a British mother and German father, Mr. Halberstadt always enjoyed studying foreign languages.

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After studying French, German, and Latin in school, Mr. Halberstadt contemplated challenging himself in university. At the time, right in the middle of the 80s, Japan was a new economic powerhouse. Ultimately, grand ideas of becoming a Japanese- speaking bank investor led Mr. Halberstadt to choose Japanese.

Majoring in Japanese at the University of London meant he would extend a regular three-year program to four years. The curriculum there provided Mr. Halberstadt the opportunity to study the language in Osaka, Japan in between semesters during a home stay.

Having studied in the school’s language department, students were well aware of the JET Programme which launched in 1987. After finishing school, Mr. Halberstadt decided to return to Japan and joined the second JET Programme cohort in 1988.

Mr. Halberstadt was placed in a single private senior high school in Yamagata prefecture. Significantly less JET alumni and no internet in 1988 had a big impression on Mr. Halberstadt’s experience of the JET program in its early years.

Mr. Halberstadt explained how things are now much more organized with many more resources available for everyone.

Many years later, Mr. Halberstadt would laugh at a letter he wrote a friend at the beginning of his stay in Japan, “This is a really interesting country but I could never imagine living here.”

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Flash forward to 1993, Mr. Halberstadt had long dismissed the idea of financial banking and instead completed his time as a JET, gone home to earn a Master’s degree, and returned to teach in Miyagi, Japan for the next 20 years.

Feeling quite bored and lonely, Mr. Halberstadt saw no reason to refuse an invitation from the Ishinomaki Junior Chamber to take part in their theatrical group looking for nonJapanese people to take part in a play.

Eventually, the Junior Chamber members took an interest in Mr. Halberstadt and his Japanese speaking abilities. In 1994 they invited him to join their organization which got him much more involved in the Ishinomaki community and connected him to people from all walks of life.

Mr. Halberstadt recalled initially struggling to interact with the Japanese community in Ishinomaki.

Working at a university meant more time alone in an office rather than at a desk surrounded by other teachers in a staff room.

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“That really was what made my life in Ishinomaki blossom.

We would have fights while I was doing all this Junior Chamber stuff and that is kind of proof that you’re in.

Because they wouldn’t do that with a guest, would they?”

Then came March 11, 2011. The Great East Japanese earthquake was a level 7 on the Japanese shindo scale, the largest ever recorded in Japan.

Statistics reveal just how devastating an event this triple tragedy was on account of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident. It resulted in more than 19,000 deceased, more than 2000 missing, and hundreds of thousands of damaged homes.

Mr. Halberstadt also speaks of it as the most difficult part of his experience in Japan. He was in his university office when the earthquake struck. He remembers hearing the quake before feeling it which was how he knew it would be a big one.

He clung to his desk as books flew all around him for about three minutes.

The tsunami that followed less than an hour later required him to seek shelter at a friend’s hotel for several days. He learned of the enormity of the disaster and about close friends who didn’t make it. The British embassy urged him to return but after speaking with friends and getting as far as Sendai, Mr. Halberstadt made the difficult decision to return and stay in Ishinomaki. He remains a member of the community there today.

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The community of Ishinomaki was the strongest hit by the disaster. Over 20,000 houses were completely destroyed and over 3,000 people lost their lives as 73 square kilometers of land was inundated.

Currently, Mr. Halberstadt directs the Ishinomaki City Kadonowaki Elementary School Ruins. The center preserves school ruins that keep the memory of the disaster alive and pass down the lessons learned to future generations.

Today, Mr. Halberstadt continues to be passionate about communication and international friendships. He finds it immensely rewarding to be able to use his English and Japanese skills to continue to contribute to his community.

“I think people are always too keen to put people in boxes and look at the differences. I think I’ve got a lot of people to notice that non-Japanese and Japanese people are not so different.

Even if there’s some differences in culture and understanding, you’re still basically the same human being. I’m passionate about getting that across to people.”

Angelinne Moreno is a 1st year JET ALT from Miami, Florida.

She is based in Miyagi prefecture where she enjoys volunteering and hiking. She also enjoys traveling and taking pictures in her free time.

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CONTRIBUTING TO CONNECT is a magazine for the English-speaking community in Japan, by that very community.

Everyone is welcome to write, no matter your experience or style! If you have an idea you want to see in these pages, please reach out to our Head Editor, or any of the amazing Section Editors. We'll work with you to make it the best it can be and share it with our audience of thousands. Whether it's an essay, an interview, infographics, great photo spreads, or even just your favourite recipe— reach out to us!

Contact the Head Editor of CONNECT, Mike Taylor, at connect. editor@ajet.net, with your submissions, comments and questions.

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