If you are in Japan, and one of your ulterior motives is to take pictures of the scenery and hopefully capture some uniquely Japanese moments, Coming of Age Day is a great day to be in Japan. Coming of Age Day, called Seijin no Hi in Japanese, is the day that newly turned twenty-year olds…
In a recent interview, the owner of Coco Ichibanya Curry was asked about the success of his shop in light of the closing of all Wendy’s franchises in Japan. First I’ll introduce Coco Ichibanya to those of you who are unfamiliar, or who live in Japan but have never ventured inside. Some of them look…
Yet again I had to buy airline tickets to travel internationally starting and ending in Japan. Faced with two main options, JTB and H.I.S., again, I gave both of them a chance for my business. I’ll tell my story here, then end with some advice I’d like to give people about buying airline tickets in…
UPDATE: Video replaced with more recent video of Misaki Omukai (including an interview) Iwate Prefecture, Kuji City Japanese online bulletin boards are alive after a Japanese Ama Diver (the women and very rarely men who dive for abalone (called “awabi” in Japanese) with virtually no equipment. It is one of the old traditional occupations in…
This is an update to a previous post about using credit cards and atm cards in Japan. I have recently gone around Japan with some friends, and although most places I go take credit cards (Visa and Mastercard are the most widely accepted), I have recently been to a few family restaurant chains, and less…
People all over the world know about McDonalds, and I wrote about Mos Burger in Japan here. Another fast food option I’d like to introduce to everyone is called Lotteria. This one is a straight up burger shop that has a menu similar to McDonalds, unlike Mos Burger which goes out of its way to…
If you have always wanted to see Mount Fuji but never had the chance you can always try watching through this webcam. I have heard there are a few webcams to use to get your Mount Fuji fix, but this is far and away the best one. Here is the webcam that will show Mount…
Shizuoka is known for many things in Japan, most of all Mount Fuji, but followed closely by green tea! The mountainous and wet environment makes it a perfect place for growing delicious tea… and the tea fields look pretty good as you drive by on the highway or ride by on the train or shinkansen….
When it comes to hotels in Japan, prices and services can vary greatly, but it’s important to note right off the bat that the price of a hotel is not necessary a reliable indicator of a hotel’s quality and services. I recently had occasion to stay at the Hotel Okura in Tokyo. I have also…
July 7th in Japan is not a national holiday. Schools are open, banks and post offices are open, and life goes on as normal. However culturally July 7th is something of a holiday. I guess you can think of it as on the level of Halloween in the U.S., and like Halloween, it is mostly…
There are two very large travel companies in Japan, JTB and HIS. JTB stands for Japan Travel Bureau . Sounds official, doesn’t it? It was originally called the Japan Tourist Bureau, and established by the Japanese government. It is currently the largest travel agency in Japan and quite easy to find around larger train stations,…
I’ve been doing some research for an upcoming trip to Tokyo. I plan to go by car, but also want to be able to see some of the sights in Roppongi, Akasaka, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and other places. I don’t want to park too far outside of the main area, and if possible I want to…