Valentine’s Day, Japan

February 14, 2011 by Koichi 24 Comments

A couple months back, we already talked about how different the Japanese Christmas is. Now it's time to take a look at another holiday that's isn't quite the same in Japan: Valentine's Day. … [Read more...]

Do’h. Smart.fm Is Closing Down And Going Paid (And Stealing All Your Content, Too)

January 26, 2011 by Koichi 198 Comments

Do'h. Smart.fm is closing down, and taking your content with it (holy crap, I made a lot for them, including a good amount of semi-pro audio, which I paid someone for). Well, they're only kinda-sorta closing down. The … [Read more...]

Are These The Oldest Photos Of Japan?

January 26, 2011 by Koichi

I've seen some old pictures of Japan... but these are really old. We're talking like 1860-1861 here. I didn't know cameras existed at this time (though apparently the first exposure ever was taken in 1827, around 30 years … [Read more...]

Practicing Japanese In Your Dreams. Can It Work?

January 13, 2011 by Koichi

For the last few weeks I've been pretty fascinated by the idea of "lucid dreaming." Basically, this is the ability to know when you're dreaming, then being able to take control of it to do whatever you want. Of course, … [Read more...]

Christmas In Japan Is Finger Lickin’ Good (KFC Christmas)

December 24, 2010 by Koichi

There's a pretty decent chance that if you're Japanese, you're about to head off to pick up your (possibly reserved) Christmas Chicken from KFC... you know, because that's how the rest of the world celebrates Christmas. … [Read more...]

Day 5: Jigokudani a.k.a. Hell’s Valley [TofuguTV]

December 14, 2010 by Koichi 47 Comments

After a quick night in Saitama, I made my way up to Nagano, from which I was able to go to Jigokudani. This place is known for its hot springs and it's "hellish" landscape. What it's really known for, though, is its … [Read more...]