Impressions of daily life in Japan
I travelled in Japan during March and April of 2020. Yes, you read that right, during the first few months of the Coronavirus pandemic. I hadn't planned for it but events caught up with me. It turned out to be a very interesting experience. I will gladly share my story with you. Rewind to December... Continue Reading →
In 2020 I had the privilege of spending two months in Japan. It had been 8 years for me since I last visited Japan. As loyal readers of this blog will know, I have spent a year living in Japan in 2011-2012. That experience was incidentally also my first time to visit Japan and it... Continue Reading →
Kyoto is famous for kaiseki cuisine. Kaiseki is an exquisite multi-course meal. It can even be considered as an art form, where one tries to balance the taste, texture, appearance, and colors of food. It goes without saying that only fresh, seasonal ingredients are used. The dishes are served in carefully selected bowls and plates,... Continue Reading →
While visiting the Hachiko statue in Shibuya, I noticed a Japanese girl with tanned skin. Both her skin tone and overall styling caught my attention and I snapped a picture of her. In Japan, the classic beauty ideal is to have a skin that is as pale and white as possible. To achieve this look,... Continue Reading →
Japanese people are very concerned with safety. One of the first Japanese words I learned after arriving in Japan was anzen (安全 ), the Japanese word for safety. A well-known example of this concern with safety is the method of 'pointing and calling', shisa kanko (指差喚呼), used by public transport operators in Japan. Japanese train... Continue Reading →
I love Japanese advertising slogans. They often include English words that have been used in a very Japanese way. Japanese copywriters are clearly convinced that positive words are the way to go. I often see a collection of positive words thrown together in a way that no native English speaker would ever use them. What... Continue Reading →
The Japans 