It’s always strange to see which Westerners are famous in Japan yet unheard of in their own homelands. Aside from foreigner tarento who appear on TV shows, commercials, and magazines today, there are a lot of historical figures who are basically unknown in their home countries, even centuries after their deaths. We’ve written before about [...]
Instead of a regular post today, I wanted to post up a few things. To be fair, one of the sections of this post is about a ginormous guide that was originally going to be this post (but was too guide-y), so if you’re looking for your regular dose of Japanese content, just jump to [...]
Last week I wrote a post about how male-female cohabitation is viewed in Japan and the concept of share houses came up a lot in the comments. Two weeks ago I knew very little about the Japanese concept of share houses but now that I’m more informed on the subject it seems like something worth [...]
Every Sunday we gather the week’s weird and interesting Japanese news and present it to you in our Sunday News column. It might not always be hard-hitting news, but we hope that it still informs and entertains you. Enjoy!
Japanese artist Mari Miyazawa plays with her food. Like, a lot. As a parent, she sent off her kids with homemade bento lunches, that much is normal; but where Miyazawa differs from most mothers is that her bento creations are works of art. They’ve been featured in photo exhibitions and on TV shows in Japan [...]
More than sushi, okonomiyaki, or any other recognizably Japanese food, ramen is arguably the most popular food in Japan. It’s inexpensive, you can find it virtually anywhere in Japan, and everybody seems to have their own take on it. As you might have guessed from my Ramen Survival Guide, between all of the different broths, [...]
Chances are, if you’ve ever been to a Japanese or Chinese restaurant, you’ve probably seen one. Their happy looking eyes. Their little paws that beckon you towards them. That cute mouth that just seems to say “Hey you! Buy some egg rolls!” Yes, I’m talking about Japan’s beckoning cat, maneki-neko. They’re common in restaurants, stores [...]
