Impressions of daily life in Japan
Every once in a while I need to get in touch with my inner geek. It usually lies dormant, but from time to time it wants to get out. So when we heard about the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya in July 2011, my inner geek and I decided we were going to spend some... Continue Reading →
When people think of Japanese toilets - as I'm sure many of us often do - they think of the high-technology toilet with all the buttons, that looks more like a space-ship than an actual toilet. Standard functions include two sprays of water (one for boys and one for girls), a blow dryer and preheated... Continue Reading →
Today typhoon nr. 15, a.k.a. Roke, passed through Japan. It's the first typhoon since we've been here that passed directly over Nagoya and Toyota-City, and the first one that really had me worried. Yesterday on the news we watched images of Nagoya being flooded. And that was before the typhoon even arrived. The flooding was... Continue Reading →
Every last Saturday of July, Toyota City has its annual festival called Oiden. It is followed by the Toyota City Fireworks Display on Sunday. They close off one of the main streets of Toyota City and set up a stage and some food stands. Thousands of people flock to the Toyota City Center to see... Continue Reading →
When I was in the 100yen shop the other day, I saw a woman wearing a 'Happy Tree Friends' T-shirt. I wonder if she actually knows what 'Happy Tree Friends' is. For those of you who don't know either: it's a cartoon about cuddly little animals who die gruesome deaths. It started as an internet... Continue Reading →
The summer in Japan is drawing to an end. Yesterday school started again and typhoon number 12 is making for gloomy and rainy weather. Time for a retrospective on summer in Japan. Weather - Before coming here, everyone had warned me about the 'crazy Japanese summer' and the especially the crazy weather. I thought people... Continue Reading →
The Japans 