Obscure, semi-useful practical information for budding diehard Japanophiles: Did you know that Japan is now the cheapest country in Asia to send stuff home if your home is called California? It costs 1080 yen (US$10.50) to send a small packet … Continue reading
Category Archives: Japan
Hey, what are you doing for the rest of your life? No plans? Nothing? Then why not settle down in a 10-room mountain lodge in the Japanese Alps? It’s called Hoshi Boshi Lodge, or HBL. You can of course change … Continue reading
This is my 12th time in Japan. 12th time! Who visits Japan twelve times?! By now I should be Japan Travel Ambassador. 11 times I was here as a tourist, and once I worked for a couple of months in … Continue reading
First things first. This is the greatest music video ever, which just happens to be Japanese. Note the three seconds from 1:19-1:22. So good. If you can’t see it below, the link is here. The first and last thirty seconds … Continue reading
Dear good people of JNTO, Japan’s tourism development board, You need me. Sorry to be so blunt. It is very un-Japanese of me. I am bowing a hundred times as I type this as an apology for my boldness. Tomorrow … Continue reading
What about the most northern part where there was damage? Aomori-ken? Isn’t it away from prevailing radiation winds? What if I brought a tent and a sleeping bag, maybe a little camping stove, a few jugs of water, and box … Continue reading
Now that I am back in Gonder I’m learning about the earthquake in Japan. It takes forever to open links on slow internet connections here, so I only glimpse at headlines for now. I’ve traveled in that area twice. A … Continue reading
Peoples! I have music to recommend! Since I am headed to the Middle East, you might be expecting something atmospheric and haunting–but no! It’s Japanese pop music by a band called Scandal. Seriously, look at this video. I think it … Continue reading
In case you didn’t know, it isn’t fun to drag 27kg (60lbs) of stuff from one side of greater Tokyo to the other and beyond to the airport. It involved multiple train transfers and I managed to make a Japanese … Continue reading
In this restaurant if you could eat a gyoza (dumpling) this big within 30 minutes, you get it free. If not, 9600 yen ($115). Japanese ultra nationalists drive around in vans and buses looking like this and blast propaganda. Somehow … Continue reading
