David Chart's Blog

David Chart’s Blog

Latest News

  • Ars Magica Crowdfundings

    My first professional publication for Ars Magica came out in 1993, in White Wolf Magazine. Things rather grew from there, and I spent over a decade as the Line Developer. When I retired from that position, I ended up taking a break for a few years, but now I’m back.

    First, I prepared the text for the upcoming Definitive Edition. The text is now done and is being laid out, and the crowdfunding launches in a few days.

    Second, part of the crowdfunding is the release of Ars Magica under an open license (CC BY-SA), and I have a Patreon at which I am writing for that license. The licensing has not happened yet, but I have permission from Atlas to do that. When you have been working with them on the line for years, you can do that.

    I am looking forward to writing for the game again!

News Archive

My Writing

Fiction

I have written some fiction.

Academic

I have published a few peer-reviewed academic works, on philosophy and Japanese history.

Roleplaying Games

I have written for roleplaying games.

Mimusubi

Mimusubi is my project for non-fiction writing about Shinto. It has its own website.

Recent Blog Posts

  • Permanent Residence Notification

    Today I received a postcard from immigration, telling me that I had to go there to be told the result of my application for permanent residence. Oh, and to make sure to take my passport and the $90 fee for a permanent residence visa. I wonder what the result might be? Of course, this postcard…

  • Discussing What To Discuss

    It’s nearly two weeks since we had the second meeting of the Foreigners’ Assembly, and I’ve still not written about it. So, I’d better rectify that. (There are quite a few things I ought to write about on this blog but haven’t yet, I’m afraid.) As I predicted last time, we did not finish early.…

  • Security Problem

    A couple of days ago, someone uploaded a spam script to my web host using my account. My hosting service have, of course, deleted the script, but the question of how the spammers did it is still open. The normal explanation is a stolen password, but I had a secure password, and I don’t use…

  • Redecorating

    Yuriko’s just about finished redecorating the flat, and I’ve just redecorated my blog. I hope you like the new look; I think it’s quite clean and easy to use. We’ve all got colds to varying degrees at the moment. Mayuki’s is making her sick quite a lot, but although we’ve taken her to the doctor,…

  • Delayed Doll Festival

    Yesterday, I put Mayuki’s Hina Dolls up. You’re supposed to put them up some time in February, and take them down by March 3rd. However, regular readers of this blog may be able to remember why that wasn’t a very good time for us to put the dolls up. What’s more, there wasn’t really space…

  • Japanese Room

    The Japanese room in our flat is finally complete. This room had the most thorough refurbishment, with a new floor (well, new tatami mats), completely redone walls, and a new ceiling. It was delayed because stripping the old wallpaper turned out to be a much bigger job than anticipated. The walls are white, but painted…

  • Formally Representative

    On Sunday, we had the first formal meeting of the Representative Assembly for Foreign Residents. The program was simple, but all of it was important, and all of it got done. First, we all received our formal notices of appointment from the deputy mayor of Kawasaki. This was when we officially became representatives, with a…

  • Kiyoharai Shiki

    Last Sunday, the evening before we moved in to the new flat, I asked the priest of the local shrine (Shirahata Hachiman Daijin) to come to perform a purification ritual for us. The Japanese name is “Kiyoharai Shiki”, which means, roughly “Cleansing Purification Ritual”. People who read Tamao will remember that Akiko and Shiraishi did…

  • Shinto Traditions Course — Kasuga

    The Japanese academic year starts in April, and with it the Kokugakuin Open College courses also start again. Once again, they are offering a Shinto course, and once again I’m taking it. The number of people taking the course has increased every year, and this year there are over 180 students. The lecture room is…

  • We’re In

    Yesterday, we moved into our new flat, and we slept here last night. Everywhere is full of boxes, but my computer is set up and working, and I am hopeful that I will be able to get the office clear of boxes before my first student arrives in five hours or so. The rest of…