Credit: Misaki Hashimoto YouTube Channel On a cloudy day in late September, I headed for the Tokyo Metropolitan Building (Tocho) to see the famous 45th...
It was cold and sunny on February 3, but many braved the chilly weather anyway for a very specific event: Setsubun. Setsubun, which is...
When I moved from Kanazawa to Tokyo in 2019, I moved into a sharehouse, a common option for those who want to save money, have...
After living in Fukushima for five years and Kyoto for two, I’ve always had a special place in my palate for hometown produce. Every season my...
As January draws to a close, the preparations for the Hina Matsuri on the third of March are underway, even though it may be in...
One of the best ways you can improve any skills you might have is by teaching those skills to other people. Through teaching, you...
Hidden in a valley south of Toyama prefecture, just a 30-minute drive from the main city area, lies a village that is not populated...
Sometimes, traditions have hidden histories to uncover. Other times, the origins can be surprisingly obvious and yet reveal how a traditional celebration has survived...
Thursday’s Cafe: Fragrant and Heartwarming ‘Moksha Chai’ If there was only one coffee shop I could go to for a while, the Aroma Café...
Japan does New Year quite differently than other countries. In fact, many people compare Japanese New Year to American Christmas. It is a day to...
In Western culture, we normally think of the New Year as being the one big “hurrah” between the last day of the year and the...
Well, actually, I got it in two. First, I had to go to the Japanese equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles and complete...
