“Osechi,” Traditional Japanese New Year’s Dishes
In Japan, we celebrate various events throughout the year. For each event, there is a custom to eat a particular food or dish. It is often a traditional dish that …
Japanese Comfort Food, Onigiri
Introduction Hi everyone! What do you think this is? It’s a Japanese comfort food, called onigiri. Today, I’d like to introduce onigiri, or rice balls, to the world. I don’t …
Gyoza ~Japanese Dumplings~
Welcome to an authentic gyoza world! Today, let me talk about Japanese dumplings, known as gyoza. History Is gyoza a Chinese food? To answer this question, let’s turn the pages …
The Feeling from the Name of Winds
Do you think knowing the name of something changes the way you think about it? I think that the impression you have of something can change based on what you …
How To Order With Meal Ticket Machines
Have you ever seen a meal ticket machine? There are a lot of machines here and there in Japan. Have you tried one before? Was there a multi-language display? If …
The 3 Best Hot Spring Resorts in Japan
Some of the biggest attractions in Japan are hot spring resorts, which are called “onsen-chi” in Japanese. Staying at a “ryokan,” which is a Japanese style hotel, and enjoying hot …
Amazing Japanese Hamburg Steaks
When I was a child, I was always looking forward to eating out at restaurants. The reason was so that I could eat many kinds of western foods that my …
The complex first person in Japanese
If you talk about yourself in English, you only need to use one letter: “I.” However, there are various first person pronouns in Japanese. When translating into a foreign language, …
How to Predict the Gender of the Coming Baby: Old Wives’ Tales in Japan.
For most moms/dads-to-be, guessing the gender of the coming baby is very exciting. Of course, you will know it by a particular medical check up like a blood test or …
Spine-Chilling Stories in Japan
Do you believe in ghosts or paranormal activity? Let’s take a look at some examples of paranormal stories from Japan that you may or may not know about. Premodern I’m …