Halloween in Nagoya
Sep 27, 2024 By William Farrow
As the years go by, old heads in the various foreign communities have noticed something: Halloween only seems to get more popular. The Japanese public has a more general awareness of the event and it has begun nicely occupying the general public's mind in that open spot after Silver Week...[ Click to read more ]
Taiwan Ramen – Famous Nagoya Meibutsu
By Bert Wishart
Nagoya's cuisine is pretty different from traditional Japanese fare. While most of the best-known Japanese dishes are famed for their subtlety, delicate, and refined tastes, with its spicy red miso and peppery tebasaki, Nagoya cuisine is known for having a kick to it; none more so than Taiwan ramen! What...[ Click to read more ]
Kawagoe Festival 2024
By Michael Stigall
Taking place annually on the 3rd Saturday and Sunday of October, the Kawagoe Festival is the pride of the City of Kawagoe every year and has over 360 years of traditions behind it. The entire "Little Edo" area of town is blocked off to automobile traffic and the Karazukuri Old...[ Click to read more ]
Popular Landmarks and Buildings in Kobe
By Justin Hanus
Kobe isn’t one of Japan’s most major cities – indeed, Osaka and Kyoto are more well-known in the Kansai region – but it is steeped in a fair amount of history and boasts a number of identifiable landmarks. Opened to foreign trade over 150 years ago, it’s a city with...[ Click to read more ]
Halloween in Tokyo 2024
By Michael Stigall
Halloween is probably one of the greatest examples I can think of when I reflect on how Japan has changed over the last decade or so as well was the friction generated by those changes. You see, once upon a time in Tokyo, celebrating Halloween meant dressing up in a costume...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo Game Show 2024
By Michael Stigall
The Tokyo Game Show is an annual trade show for video game developers held at Makuhari Messe Convention Centerjust outside Tokyo. First held in 1996, the Tokyo Game Show is among the world’s biggest video game related conferences. It is well attended by big-name game developers to launch new products and display their latest innovations...[ Click to read more ]
Ice, Ice, Baby… The Best Ice Cream in Hiroshima
By Jade Brischke
You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! The summer may have drawn to a close but it’s never a bad season for ice cream. Japan is fast becoming an ice cream hotspot to rival Italy thanks to the likes of its unique flavours such as matcha, black...[ Click to read more ]
Koyo, or Fall Colors in Nagoya
By Ray Proper
The Japanese are very conscious of the seasons changing around them, often celebrating little, or not so little, milestones between each to mark the transitions between their much-touted "4 distinct seasons." Long sleeve or short sleeve shirts, for example, are there one day but gone the next as the season...[ Click to read more ]
Halloween in Kansai
Sep 26, 2024 By Justin Hanus
Halloween has grown in popularity in Japan in the 21st century ever since Tokyo Disneyland hosted a big Halloween party in 2000. Nowadays, you can find themed events both big and small up and down the country. Halloween in Japan is a tad different from what you might expect in...[ Click to read more ]
Halloween in Hiroshima
By Justin Hanus
Halloween is one of the popular western celebrations that Japan has embraced in recent years, in part due to the increase in the country’s American expat population. As might be expected, Japan puts its own unique slant on proceedings. You won’t see trick or treaters out knocking on people’s doors...[ Click to read more ]