Impressions of daily life in Japan
Today, July 8th, is the start of the Sumo Grand Tournament in Nagoya. There are six tournaments throughout the year, three of which take place in Tokyo. But come July, everyone in the sumo world travels to Nagoya for the July basho. The wrestlers arrive in Nagoya about two weeks prior to the start of... Continue Reading →
Last year around Christmas time, the pictures of an Osaka department store advertising a 'fuckin' sale' went across the globe. I recently came across another funny sales advertisement in Tokyo, although this one had a more positive message: the hopeful sale (or rather, bargain). The Japanese have a habit of combining English adjectives and nouns... Continue Reading →
I recently came across a Japanese song which is too cute for words. The song imitates a cat talking to its owner. Not only is the song extremely catchy, a noble stranger has taken it upon him- or herself to illustrate the song with beautiful photos on YouTube. Check out the result: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHy7u4N_BAk The repeated... Continue Reading →
The rainy season has started in Japan and with it, huge flocks of birds have arrived in Toyota City. These birds gather in groups that easily count several hundreds of birds and make a noise like you wouldn't believe. Every night around dusk they gather on the power lines or in the trees next to... Continue Reading →
When driving along the highway in Japan, one often comes across signs warning drivers about animals that could possibly cross the road. While in Belgium such signs almost always depict a deer, in Japan the sign can show all sorts of animals. The Japanese love to be specific! The sign that surprised me most was... Continue Reading →
One thing that's typically Japanese are the ridiculously clean cars. I have no idea how they manage to keep their cars that clean. It's not like all the Japanese are collectively washing their cars on Sunday. In fact I hardly catch anyone cleaning their car ever. But somehow all the cars in Japan are sparkly... Continue Reading →
The Japans 