In Japan’s long history, there are lots of instances of foreign culture unexpectedly seeping into Japanese culture. It’s why a stapler is called a “Hotchkiss” in Japanese, and why a lot of Japanese choirs have a Croatian aria in their repertoire. But foreign culture slipped in in more obvious ways too. One of the biggest [...]
I know what you’re all saying: “Omg, where is TofuguTV? You’re going back to Japan, again?” And, if I was listening to you right now I’m sure I’d be all like “ikr, but listen, it’s going to be better this time, really!” Then we’d all laugh and hug and it’d be okay. Really though, it’s [...]
Do you live in an area where it barely snows, or doesn’t snow at all? Have you always mourned the fact that you’ll never have a snowman to call your own? Well, no longer! Hayakita, Japan has branded itself as the best snowman town in the land, and for the last 25 years, its local [...]
Perhaps it’s climate change. Perhaps it was the particularly hot summer and the lack of acorns. Perhaps it’s because of habitat loss… who knows. All I know is Japanese bear attacks have hit a sharp rise, and that’s no good.
It is pretty hard to get further off the beaten track in Japan than by hitchhiking. I’ve never done it and the thought had never really occurred to me since I’ve associated hitchhiking with grizzly murders from horror flicks or sitting outside in crappy weather for hours on end. Our guest expert on the subject [...]
お久しぶりです!『ohisashiburidesu』It’s been a while! Per request, Japan [Off The Beaten Track] is going to begin again strong with Hokkaido 北海道, the number one place in Japan where people take adventuring very seriously! This northern island is rugged and can be thought of as Japan’s Wild Wild North. People come from all over the world to [...]
