Impressions of daily life in Japan
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 →
As some of you may or may not have noticed, I have been afk for while. For the non-geeks among you: afk means away from keyboard. The reason was our trip to Hokkaido, the northern most island of Japan. Like many Japanese companies, Toyota had decided to send all of their employees on a mandatory... Continue Reading →
Today I wore a yukata for the first time. A yukata is a casual summer kimono, usually made of cotton. In day-to-day life, I usually spot one woman in yukata a day. But at summer festivals and especially at firework displays (hanabi taikai), a lot of people wear yukata. My yukata was a gift from... Continue Reading →
A few days ago I had another encounter with Japanese bugs: mosquitoes this time. We were strolling down the historic town of Arimatsu when we encountered a beautiful grove with stairs leading up to a temple. Little did we know that the grove contained a giant swarm of mosquitoes. At first it seemed like there... Continue Reading →
Japan's summer is hot and humid. We are currently in the rainy season, which lasts about 40 days during the months of June and July. However, during our first week here we didn't see a drop of rain. Temperatures were very high for the time of year, a few days even up to 37° C,... Continue Reading →
The Japans 