• Culture Day
    November 4th, 2013By Category: Culture
    Culture Day, or 文化の日, is one of the very few holidays in Japan that is not liable to change due to the “Happy Monday” system, which sees most national holidays fall on a Monday. Culture Day is celebrated on the 3rd of November every year and gives most the day off ... » Continue Reading
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    Ahoy hoy! Pillaging Laughs with The Pirates of Tokyo Bay
    October 31st, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    Wait what? A live, improv, comedy show…  in two languages? But, Japanese and Western humor are so different- how does that work? They get suggestions for skits from the audience?  This is MADNESS. As the only bilingual improv group in Tokyo, The Pirates of Tokyo Bay g ... » Continue Reading
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    Gifu Cormorant Fishing 2013
    October 30th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    Ukai or Cormorant Fishing has taken place along the famous Nagara River in Gifu for more than 1300 years. It is a traditional fishing method that uses trained cormorants to catch river fish. The samurai warlord Oda Nobunaga took the ukai fisherman under his patronage an ... » Continue Reading
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    Tokyo’s Beauty Billboard Top 10: RanKing RanQueen
    October 25th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    With so many beauty-girl products on the shelves, it’s easy for the foreign lady to get her brain scrambled trying to figure out what’s what. Apparently, the same applies to the local girls—hence the ranking of the bestest in beauty at RanKing RanQueen. (See what they d ... » Continue Reading
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    Gifu Nobunaga Festival 2013
    October 22nd, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    The Gifu Nobunaga Festival is held on the first Saturday and Sunday of October. The festival honours the memory and feats of Oda Nobunaga, a samurai warlord who used Gifu City as a base on his mission to unify Japan during the warring states period (Sengoku Period). It ... » Continue Reading
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    Halloween Snacks in Japan
    October 21st, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    Autumn is one of the best times of year in Japan for seasonal food and drink. Some of the seasonal delicacies include kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) kuri (chestnuts) and satsumaimo (sweet potato). During the summer I wrote about some of the summer snacks that were available ... » Continue Reading
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    Kai Azabu Juban: The BBQ SPAM incident
    October 20th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    I was ready to review White Smoke in Azabu Juban, because I’d heard the BBQ is magical and authentic and will touch your soul in deep and meaningful ways. So I grabbed Anthony Joh, and we headed to Azabu to eat sticky stuff with our hands. You can imagine how sad we wer ... » Continue Reading
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    FAQ about traveling from Japan with Across-No.1 Travel
    October 16th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    We had an opportunity to sit down with Across-No.1 Travel (H.I.S.) to find out the some of the more unusual requests that they get. Of course, the most popular question was “What is the cheapest flight to (insert destination here)?” but here are five common questions t ... » Continue Reading
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    A Unique Getaway in Nikko: Zen Hostel
    October 10th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    SPACE riverhouse first lodges itself in my mind when I hear a co-worker raving about it. More research online reveals it’s nestled in the mountains, right on the bank of a gurgling river in Nikko. It’s remote, peaceful and sounds like a great place to reconnect with ... » Continue Reading
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    BS in the Martial Arts World?
    October 3rd, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    Nowadays the world of martial arts is very much a multifaceted one. It is a realm of age old tradition, as well as one of cutting edge science, technology and innovation. Unfortunately, the one thing that seems to permeate the entire picture is B.S. The following video ... » Continue Reading
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    Sumo Dreams Do Come True
    October 2nd, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    Can I tell you something? I had absolutely no desire to see sumo. Nothing against it, it just never occurred to me to want to go, and that lack of desire was fortified after talking to a few of my Japanese students. Their comments included: “You’re going to sumo? (long ... » Continue Reading
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    Modeling in Japan 101: After the Shoot
    September 11th, 2013By Category: Uncategorized
    So… you’ve done the legwork: You’ve got great headshots You’ve put together a decent portfolio site You’ve registered with the agencies You’re got your audition wrap down You’re starting to book work. Congrats! But what are you doing at the end of eac ... » Continue Reading

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