International Supermarkets in Tokyo
Jan 20, 2018 By Bert Wishart
Japanese food is celebrated the world over, and you are perhaps lucky to live in a country in which the cuisine is held in such high regard. However, sometimes you just hanker after something that tastes of home. Fortunately, some supermarkets cater in particular to those wishing to purchase international foods....[ Click to read more ]
How to Bitcoin in Japan
Dec 26, 2017 By Jason Gatewood
No doubt you've heard of the digital currency Bitcoin in the past few months thanks in part to its meteoric rise in value over the last part of 2017. While some have likened it to a computerized form of the Tulip Craze of the 1600's, the technology underpinning it, the...[ Click to read more ]
Nakano Broadway: Tokyo’s “other Akihabara”
By Jason Gatewood
No matter how you slice it, Tokyo's modern image is the stuff of cyberpunk dreams. We are the city of giant robots, iron gollums, and Godzilla. So of course most people's image of "Cool Japan" is found in Akihabara, our city's major electronics district and hub of all things anime...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo Antique Jamboree
Dec 21, 2017 By Ray Proper
[caption id="attachment_34343" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Tokyo Big Sight[/caption] The largest antique event in Japan, the Tokyo Antique Jamboree, is an annual event with as many as 500 vendors from all over Japan selling a variety of items with different tastes and styles; including both Japanese and western antiques. The event is...[ Click to read more ]
Nagoya’s German Market
Nov 21, 2017 By Bert Wishart
With its strawberries on cakes, love hotels and KFC, Japan gives Christmas a good try, but it doesn't quite come out right. What we need at this time of year is some real, good old fashioned tradition, and nothing quite screams 'IIIIIIIIIT'S CHRRIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAAAAAS' like handmade wooden toys, excited children and...[ Click to read more ]
Gujo Hachiman, an Edo Era Town That’s Much More Than a Song and a Dance
Nov 01, 2017 By Bert Wishart
You may recall that, back in July, we posted about the Gujo Hachiman Bon Odori festival, a four day extravaganza of all night dancing, perhaps the most famous event of its type in all of Japan. While it is quite an extraordinary sight, there is a good chance that you...[ Click to read more ]
Import Stores in Hiroshima: The Solution to Your Cravings
Sep 13, 2017 By Jade Brischke
[caption id="attachment_33409" align="aligncenter" width="640"] If only the selection was this good!![/caption] There are three kinds of people who come to Japan: the first who continues to eat their Western diet that they’re used to, the second who decides to abandon all Western foods and go totally Japanese and the third...[ Click to read more ]
Book-Off: Hiroshima’s Answer to Everything you Need
May 19, 2017 By Jade Brischke
As a foreigner in Japan (especially when you first arrive), life can be a little difficult adjusting to a new place and a completely different culture. You may need to find furniture, or at least things to personalise your apartment and make it your own and you may not want...[ Click to read more ]
Day Trips From Tokyo – Kamakura, the Kyoto of the East
Apr 17, 2017 By Bert Wishart
When tourist destinations claim to 'have it all', you can generally presume that this is short hand for 'there are a few things that are okay, but nothing of particular great note'. However, when it comes to Kamakura, a city with abundant nature, fantastic food, sports and an illustrious historical heritage, it is...[ Click to read more ]
No More Mamachari! Where to get Good Bikes in Tokyo
Mar 23, 2017 By Bert Wishart
Tokyo is such a marvelous city to explore, which is why it is a shame that we spend so much time on trains and subways being ferried from one place to another, never really getting to understand the lay of the land. The best way to really understand the city...[ Click to read more ]
