Valentine’s Day in Kobe
Jan 22, 2023 By Justin Hanus
Valentine’s Day is an essential holiday throughout Japan, but it’s extra significant in Kobe. Here, a chocolate shop advertised Valentine’s Day chocolates for the first time in Japan back in 1932. The advertisement ran in an English-language newspaper and targeted foreign residents. It took another four or so decades for...[ Click to read more ]
Nagoya Ramen Festival 2023
By Ray Proper
Ramen is a classic Japanese food. If you ask a random person, foreign or Japanese, male or female, what their favorite food is, you are highly likely to get "ramen" as your answer. Ramen is a noodle soup of wheat noodles served in a meat-based broth. Standard flavors include: Shio...[ Click to read more ]
Where to Spend Valentine’s Day in Nagoya
Jan 21, 2023 By Bert Wishart
In his 1977 classic one-hit wonder, John Paul Young sang the immortal lines "Love is in the air, everywhere I look around." There is a good chance that he wasn't looking around Nagoya, as while it is a fantastic city with so much to offer thanks to its industrial past,...[ Click to read more ]
Drinking Sake Warms Winters in Hiroshima
Dec 18, 2022 By Jade Brischke
How do you get warm and stay warm when the temperature in Hiroshima drops during the winter? Ah, that’s easy, hot sake! With the weather getting cooler, now is the perfect time to take advantage of some of the best sake around and also the time to work out what...[ Click to read more ]
New Year Countdown Parties Near Nagoya 2022
Dec 13, 2022 By Bert Wishart
New Year is an important time in Japan, but things are celebrated differently here than back home. You are undoubtedly already clued up on Japan's New Year traditions, its New Year's foods, and the shrines to visit for Hatsumoude in Nagoya. But did you know that there are also New...[ Click to read more ]
Traditional Japanese New Years’ Foods – Osechi Ryori
Nov 24, 2022 By Ray Proper
Osechi-ryōri are traditional Japanese foods eaten at the start of the new year. The osechi tradition has been alive in Japan since the Heian Era (starting in 794). The foods are easily recognizable by the special bento boxes called jūbako, often stacked for larger families or parties. Like many places...[ Click to read more ]
Thanksgiving in Tokyo
Oct 12, 2022 By Jason Gatewood
Let's face it: Thanksgiving is purely a North American holiday, meaning we shouldn't expect much fanfare here in Tokyo on the fourth Thursday of November. In most parts of Japan, you may only have one choice if you want to indulge in a holiday feast -- do it yourself... minus...[ Click to read more ]
Seven Spooky Japanese Halloween Costume Ideas
Sep 27, 2022 By Bert Wishart
So, Halloween is coming and you are getting ready to dust off that old ghost, vampire or witch costume that you wear every year. But this year why not try something different, something that takes its inspiration from the local folklore? Below are some ideas for spooky Halloween costumes that come from...[ Click to read more ]
Osu Street Performers’ Festival
Sep 17, 2022 By Bert Wishart
October brings the Nagoya Festival, a massive parade throughout the city celebrating three great warriors and historical leaders connected to the city: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, this is by no means the only - nor even the most interesting - of the festivals celebrating the city's great history this month....[ Click to read more ]
Saio Festival in Mie
May 30, 2022 By Bert Wishart
From Elsa to Cinderella to Snow White, princesses are held in extremely high regard in Japanese culture. But it isn't just your common-or-garden Disney princess that enraptures the attention of the Japanese public; the adoration of Princess Aiko, and the furor surrounding the marriage to a commoner of Princess Mako,...[ Click to read more ]
