Impressions of daily life in Japan
Coming of Age Day (seijin no hi) is a Japanese holiday held on the second Monday of January. It is a great day for kimono spotting. In day-to-day life in Japan, it is rare to see people in kimono. On Coming of Age Day, however, you will see them everywhere. Coming of Age Day celebrates... Continue Reading →
After living in Japan for a while, you start to experience something that I like to call the 'hello-you're-in-japan-face-slap'. I have talked about it in previous posts. It means that you have gradually gotten used to all the wonderful Japanese things that excited you so much at first. Life in Japan has started to seem... Continue Reading →
Today is Obon, an important Japanese holiday. Traditionally it is a day for honouring the spirits of one's ancestors. But since the Japanese never pass up an opportunity to have a party, it is also an excellent reason to organise a festival and get together with friends and family. Apart from delicious festival food and... Continue Reading →
The best place for people watching in Nagoya might be The Golden Clock in Nagoya station. It is a favoured meeting place and around every full hour (e.g. 18:00h) the area is positively teeming with people. It is remarkable how much calmer it gets at around the ten minute mark (e.g. 18:10h), when all the... Continue Reading →
The other day I was watching the Japanese movie 'Okuribito' (usually titled 'Departures' abroad). I absolutely love that movie and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. The movie is about a man who moves back from Tokyo to his hometown in the mountains. He gets involved in the funeral business, a profession that was despised... Continue Reading →
When walking around in Kyoto, foreign tourists will often be very excited when they spot 'a real-life Japanese geisha'! Indeed when walking around the area near Kiyomizu-dera temple, one often sees groups of young girls dressed in bright kimonos. What most tourists probably don't know is that these girls are not geisha, but dressed-up tourists... Continue Reading →
The Japans 