Cool Japan – How to Stay Warm in the Japanese Winter
Dec 27, 2023 By Bert Wishart
While winters in Japan’s more mountainous and northern regions get pretty chilly, here in Nagoya, temperatures rarely drop below zero. However, for some reason, I constantly feel frozen to my marrow, and I bet I'm not the only one. This is partly because few homes and office buildings are sufficiently...[ Click to read more ]
Hatsumode in Nagoya – Shrines to Visit for New Years
By First Admin
Oshogatsu, or New Year, is the most important holiday in Japan. Businesses shut down from January 1 to January 3, and families gather to spend time together. During the New Year, most places around Japan look like ghost towns, as children fly kites, play card games or count their otoshidama...[ Click to read more ]
Getting a Kick out of Karate – What’s it all about and where to do it in Nagoya
Nov 30, 2023 By Bert Wishart
When I was six years old, my parents signed me up at a local karate class. I’m not sure why; perhaps because, as the smallest kid in my class, they thought I’d need to toughen up to survive primary school, or maybe they just wanted me out of their hair...[ Click to read more ]
Omiyage – More Than Just a Souvenir, it’s a Way of Life!
Nov 28, 2023 By Bert Wishart
There are myriad aspects of Japanese culture that can baffle the outsider, but on the face of it, omiyage seems pretty straightforward. Omiyage is usually translated as ‘souvenir’, and we all know what that is right? Coming from French for ‘remember’, a souvenir is usually something that we bring back...[ Click to read more ]
Hamburger Restaurants in Nagoya
Oct 31, 2023 By Ray Proper
Though Nagoya has a plethora of great restaurants with amazing teppanyaki, tebasaki, ramen and sushi, sometimes you just want good old home comfort food, and quite often that means burgers. Now, there was a time when you couldn't turn a page in the local Nagoya press without coming across another...[ Click to read more ]
Know your Nio from your Komainu – Exploring Nagoya’s Temples and Shrines
Oct 27, 2023 By Bert Wishart
There are so many great things about living in Japan, but for me one of the best is the plethora of interesting religious iconography that can be found wherever you look. This is a nation in which you can’t swing a dead tanuki without striking some kind of religious monument,...[ Click to read more ]
Scots on the Rocks – The Japan Lights, an Enlightening New Book by Iain Maloney
By Bert Wishart
A few years ago, I noticed on social media that my friend, Iain Maloney, had developed an obsession with lighthouses. Every now and again, here he was stood in front of another old lighthouse on some windswept outcrop of the Japanese coastline: in Ehime, in Izu, in Nagasaki. What the...[ Click to read more ]
How to Get an ETC Card in Japan
Oct 19, 2023 By Justin Hanus
To pay the expressway tolls in Japan, it helps to have an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) card. This allows you to make automatic cashless payments instead of needing to stop at tollbooths and pay in cash. There are even special lanes at the tolls for holders of ETC cards, which...[ Click to read more ]
The Nagoya Champagne Ball & Awards Evening
Oct 05, 2023 By Admin
A Night of Rhythm and Blues at the 17th Champagne Ball & Awards Evening! Grab your best pair of sunglasses and fedora and get ready to pay tribute to the kings of cool - Jake and Elwood! Whether you're in the mood for high-energy networking, exciting photo ops, or to...[ Click to read more ]
Going up in Smoke – Cigars in Nagoya
Sep 27, 2023 By Bert Wishart
Depending on which side of the divide you fall, you probably thought that the Japanese government's 2020 decision to ban smoking in many indoor spaces was either the best they ever made or a direct infringement on your civil rights. In the intervening years, positions have probably mellowed, as smokers...[ Click to read more ]
