Sharing favorite finds from across the archipelago
Sorry for the rather sporadic posting on here the past few weeks. Since moving to Tokyo, I feel like life is moving at warp speed. Especially since it's foliage season, I hate to spend my days in front of the computer. I'd like to think that when winter really rolls around, I'll be happier to... Continue Reading →
Oh. my. goodness. What an insane week. If you've been following me on facebook, you'll know that I just wrapped up a nearly week-long trip to Kyoto to see the fall foliage. Normally, Kyoto is one of my absolute favorite places to see the changing leaves but this year ... man, this year was something... Continue Reading →
Several years ago, when I was sequestered on Okinawa with a brand new baby, I took to visiting the local library with increasing frequency. Inspired by the recent Sherlock Holmes movies and the BBC television series Sherlock, I took it upon myself to read the entire canon of works featuring the good detective. While I... Continue Reading →
It's hard to believe that in a few months, my daughter will turn 5 years old. That's around the age when kids in Japan start to give up their Anpanman obsession, much like American kindergarten kids abandon Sesame Street and hide their Elmo dolls in the closet. We thankfully haven't quite gotten over Anpanman yet (I'm... Continue Reading →
It's already October, and halfway through the month at that. How is this year going by so fast?? The holidays will be here all too soon, and I have already begun planning out my stocking stuffers and holiday gifts. Do you have a Japanophile on your list this year? The following is a great selection of... Continue Reading →
Ah, here we are again, at another long weekend. Autumn is just replete with them though this one I never seem to get to celebrate. While my daughter has attended Japanese nursery school in the previous years, we never managed to be in town for the annual Sports Day festival. This year, she actually attended... Continue Reading →
Most visitors to Japan never make it up to Aomori, the northernmost prefecture on Japan's "main" island of Honshu. To them, Japan means Tokyo and sushi means "Tsukiji", the market where a disproportionate amount of the world's seafood is brought to be bought and traded. I once thought that Tsukiji was the "be all and... Continue Reading →
How does one type a trumpet fanfare? Dun dun dun daaaaaaaaaaa, dun dun da dun dun daaaaaaaaaaaa. Hmmm, perhaps not. 😛 Why the celebration? Glad you asked. 😀 After over three years of blogging, I have arrived at the milestone 500th post! I reflected quite a bit about how best to mark the occasion. I... Continue Reading →
It's always a happy day when a book arrives in the mail. My doorbell rang the other morning with one of Tuttle Publishing's latest offerings, The Peace Tree from Hiroshima. While we've just missed the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and the end of World War II, the message in this book never goes... Continue Reading →
I have long had a fascination with wagashi, Japan's traditional confectionary, though it took me several years to actually get the acquired taste for them. I never had more than a passing desire to make them, however, until I saw that Ayuko of Buddha Bellies Cooking School Tokyo was offering a hands-on tutorial of the sweets... Continue Reading →
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