How to Enjoy Japanese Izakaya!
What is Izakaya (居酒屋)? How does it differ from Western pubs and bars? According to Wikipedia, they are Japanese-style pubs and bars. Compared to Western bars, Izakaya offers a wider …
Author: Kazu Kadowaki
Weekend Trip to Karuizawa in Autumn
Karuizawa—known as one of the most famous resort areas in Nagano prefecture in Japan. There are a lot of vacation homes. It takes around one hour by Shinkansen JR. According …
How to Enjoy Japanese Halloween
Summer is over, and from the end of September, cities are having a Halloween mood. In retrospect, there were Halloween events at theme parks, restaurants and bars in the early …
One-day Trip to Toyosu, Tokyo
Generally speaking, Tokyo is home to a bunch of places where you should go to. Like, go shopping, eating out and visiting tourist places just to name a few. In …
8 Tricks to Deal with Japanese Summer
Hot, humid, damp, and muggy. When it comes to Japanese summer, you might feel like this. “暑い(Atsui)” is kind of how people say hello in this season. You might hear …
What is Donki?
Have you ever seen this penguin? This is “Don Quixote,” which is the Japanese discount store whose headquarters is in Tokyo. Now it has 604 stores in Japan and 96 …
The 13 Best Products to Buy at Daiso
Hyakkin literally means “one hundred yen” (in Japanese, hyaku-en, and also represented as ¥100 or 100円). Hyaku means “one hundred,” and “yen” is the English pronunciation of the Japanese currency, …
How to Use SUMIMASEN Practically
You definitely have heard that Japanese people often say “sumimasen.” Probably you know it means “sorry.” This is true, but actually, it also has another two definitions, like “excuse me“ …
Amazing Japanese Vending Machines Part 2
There are a lot of vending machines in Japan. A vending machine is called “jihanki” which is an abbreviation for “jido hanbaiki.” The benefits for owners are that they can …
How to Enjoy Japanese Vending Machines!
We call vending machines “jihanki(自販機)” which is an abbreviation for “jidohanbaiki(自動販売機).” You might say there are many vending machines all over the world, and yes, that’s right, but I bet …