Shinjuku Gyoen is a national park/ garden in Japan located in the heart of Tokyo, in Shinjuku. It is my favorite park in Japan and must be one of the most beautiful parks in the world. No matter what time…
Earthquakes
Are there earthquakes where you live? Japan is part of the Ring of Fire, a grouping of countries around the world that sit on tectonic plates and tend to have a lot of earthquakes. The most well-known earthquake from Japan…
White Day
I’m sure everyone is familiar with Valentine’s Day, but have you heard of White Day? This is a unique holiday to Japan that takes place on March 14th, one month after Valentine’s Day. In western countries, Valentine’s Day is a…
Living in Japan during the pandemic
The pandemic has really shaped the last 2 years of life for everyone on a global scale, and living in a foreign country during a global pandemic has been an experience in itself. If you’ve been wanting to travel or…
Yokohama Minato Mirai
Have you been to Yokohama? It’s a major city just outside of Tokyo. It’s a harbor city, with lots of views of Tokyo Bay from all over the city. I think it’s one of Japan’s most attractive modern cities. There…
Snow in Tokyo
Japan seems to be well known in the winter sports community for “good” powder snow, however it really only snows in certain areas. Hokkaido is the region that gets the famous powder snow, but it’s pretty far away from the…
Chinese Food in Japan
There are many Chinese restaurants in Japan, but just like most foreign cuisine, it is adapted to Japan so I can’t speak for the authenticity. Most of the Chinese restaurants I see in Japan are cheap, almost like fast food,…
Christmas Cookie Decorating
Around the Christmas season, it is popular in the US to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. All kinds of cookies are popular around the Christmas holiday season, but especially sugar cookies in fun Christmas shapes, decorated with colored frosting. I’ve…
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is considered a major holiday in the United States (and Canada) but did you know that Japan also has a Thanksgiving holiday? Japan’s Thanksgiving day is a national holiday observed on November 23rd. Although it is a bank holiday,…
Kin Mokusei (金木犀)
Does this plant look familiar? If you are in or from Asia, maybe it does. In Japan, it’s known as kin mokusei (金木犀) and it blooms in the autumn. The plant is a big bush or tree and is rather…