2019 Heisei Abdication & Reiwa Coronation
Apr 20, 2019 By Jason Gatewood
Unless you’ve made a concerted effort to avoid Japanese news headlines for the last two years, you already know that the current patriarch of the world’s oldest royal family, Emperor Akihito, will step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne and make way for his son Prince Naruhito to be crowned. A...[ Click to read more ]
Kyoto International Manga Museum
Apr 15, 2019 By Justin Hanus
There’s no better place in the country for fans of manga than the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Visitors have the chance to browse a massive collection of manga that spans three floors, visit exhibitions, and read manga on the museum lawn (weather permitting). The building was formerly an elementary school,...[ Click to read more ]
7 Facts About Ninjas
By Justin Hanus
Everyone is familiar with ninjas. They feature heavily in pop culture both in Japan and in the rest of the world. However, few people know the truth about these warriors — or much of what they think they know is fiction. Learning the critical facts about ninjas is not only...[ Click to read more ]
Miso Katsu, Nagoya’s Number One ‘Soul Food’
Mar 28, 2019 By Mark Guthrie
Ask anyone around the country what springs to mind when you think of Nagoya, and you might be surprised to learn that it's not the castle. Nor is it Toyota or the TV Tower. No, when Japanese people think of Nagoya, many think of miso katsu. From International Cuisine to...[ Click to read more ]
Watching TV Shows From Back Home *Legally*
Mar 27, 2019 By Jason Gatewood
Oh what a wonderful time to be alive as an expat in Japan! In the not-to-distant past, we were stuck mailing letters to our friends and family back home or going through the harrowing process of figuring how to get international calling to work on our Japanese cellphones… Or worse,...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo’s Five Teams of Summer: Baseball in Kanto
By Jason Gatewood
Japan is a modern-day mecca of sports having hosted several tournaments in the past and being the hosts of the upcoming World Rugby Cup this fall and the 2020 Summer Games. Answering the question, "what sports do you follow" with soccer or rugby will get you into a long conversation...[ Click to read more ]
Hiroshima Concert Venues
Mar 26, 2019 By Matt Mangham
Several times a year, someone will say to me that they miss live music. And while they may really mean a favorite band or venue back home, if you love live music there’s no need to go without, even in a city as relatively compact as Hiroshima. Concerts can be...[ Click to read more ]
Art Museums around Hiroshima
By Matt Mangham
I wrote elsewhere this month about where to look for live music in Hiroshima. Now let’s talk a little about the visual arts. Again, if you count galleries and exhibitions in coffee shops and other venues, the possibilities immediately expand to fill more time than you probably have. For the...[ Click to read more ]
International Festival of Extreme Sports
By Matt Mangham
For three days in April, downtown Hiroshima will take on a new vibe as crowds of breakdancers, freestyle BMX riders, parkour players and other extreme athletes converge on the site of the former municipal stadium just north of Peace Park for FISE Hiroshima. FISE, which stands for Festival International des...[ Click to read more ]
Planning Your Visit to a Sumo-Beya
Mar 22, 2019 By Justin Hanus
Attending a match at a sumo tournament is just one way to experience real-life sumo. Another is to visit a sumo stable (or sumo-beya) where professional wrestlers live and train. In fact, visiting a sumo-beya will give you a better understanding of the culture of wrestling. Plus, as tournaments are...[ Click to read more ]
