Welcome. I’m Andy Atzert. In 2025 I retired and moved from New York City to my wife’s hometown in rural Japan. About a year into this adventure I decided to start a blog to share my thoughts and experiences.
The title, “Impermanent Resident,” is a play on the name of an immigrant visa status in Japan, “Permanent Resident.” Like many foreigners who live here, I hope to be accorded this status someday. However, I don’t cling too tightly to that hope, for two reasons. First, although I’m diligently making all the necessary preparations to submit a successful application — e.g., learning Japanese, paying my taxes on time, avoiding traffic tickets — the ultimate outcome is uncertain, and entirely out of my hands. Second, and more importantly, even if my hope is realized and I obtain the legal status of permanent resident, the truth is that no one is really ever a permanent resident anywhere. This fact of life is part of the concept of wabi-sabi, which has strongly influenced Japanese culture and aesthetics. Essentially, the idea is that everything is imperfect, constantly changing (i.e., impermanent), and unfinished, and when we stop pretending otherwise we free ourselves to enjoy each precious moment of our existence, with greater empathy for others. Residing here in Japan, in the latter part of my life, I feel this sensibility deep in my bones. Although I have no editorial direction or concrete plan for this blog, I’m certain that wabi-sabi will be a prominent thread. Hence the title.
I’m new to blogging and WordPress, so please pardon any, um, imperfections! I’ve tried to make the site as easy on readers (and myself) as possible. The Home page always contains my three latest posts, in reverse chronological order, with a button at the end of each for emailing me comments, questions or suggestions. At the bottom of the page, hit the “Load More” button and three more posts will become visible…and so on. Alternatively, you can click on the “Post Index” link on either the site header or footer to see a complete list of post titles and dates, hyperlinked directly to the posts. If you’d like to receive a monthly digest of my posts in the form of an email newsletter, you can subscribe on the Newsletter page.
I’d love to hear from you. Email me at andy@andyatzert.com. All comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome. I read every email, and always respond — but not always right away.
Finally, I also share my photos on Flickr, which I’ve been doing for years. Though there’s some overlap, many of the photos I post there don’t show up here, and vice versa, so you might want to check it out.
Thanks for visiting.