Culture/History

Matsu (“Pine”)

The pine, “Matsu” in Japanese, is a type of tree that produces cones and its leaves do not fall off in winter. In Japan, the pine tree is known as Eternal Pine, a symbol for longevity and eternity, as it does not change its green color for a thousand years. Because of its longevity and […]

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Travel

Tokyo Disneyland

In Japan, Disneyland is not just for kids but also for adults. If you go to Tokyo Disneyland, you will see a lot of adults who are having fun in a real dream world. Maybe, people in Tokyo are generally tired of a super busy city life and want to find themselves in the happiest […]

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Culture/History | Food/Drink | Travel

Yamaguchi – Suo Oshima Island

If you drive for about two hours to the east from the Ube airport in Yamaguchi prefecture, you will get to the Suo Oshima Island. The island, surrounded by beautiful nature, is a great place to enjoy the beaches, hiking, and hot spring. Most notably, Suo-Oshima town has a sister island relationship with the County […]

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Travel

How to find a place to stay in Tokyo?

If you are traveling in Tokyo as a tourist, you may wonder where you should stay during your trip. The most famous areas to stay in Tokyo is Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, and around Tokyo station. Or Ikebukuro may be your option. To be honest, these areas are convenient but too crowded at times. If you […]

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Food/Drink

Strawberry dessert

You may be able to eat strawberries throughout the year in your country but in Japan, good strawberries are only available during the wintertime. In Winter, a lot of cafes, dessert shops, and hotel restaurants offer strawberry desserts. Today, I would like to introduce one café in Chidoricho, Tokyo that offers amazing strawberry parfaits. Located […]

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Food/Drink

Rice Oil

What is rice oil? Have you used rice oil before? In Japan, you can purchase it in a grocery store. It’s made from rice produced in Japan and labeled as “Rice oil” in Japanese. The rice oil is the oil extracted from the rice bran, the hard outer brown layer of rice called chaff (rice […]

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Travel

Train ride in Tokyo

Today, I would like to introduce a convenient feature of google map when you are traveling by train in Tokyo. If you search your destination on google map in Tokyo, you will get railway routes (train time, fares, time required) to the destination like below. Not just a basic information such as which line to […]

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Culture/History

Key to longer lives – Part 2

Good healthcare and medical check system You may not believe if I say, most Japanese people have a medical checkup every year, which is almost compulsory if you are a corporate employee. All residents of Japan are required by the law to have health insurance coverage, which also covers an annual medical checkup. That is […]

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Culture/History | Food/Drink

Key to longer lives – Part 1

According to Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, life expectancy of Japanese men and women were 81.25 years old and 87.32 years old, respectively in 2018. So why Japanese people live so long..? Japanese food One answer to the question above is definitely the food that Japanese people eat on a daily basis. You may […]

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Food/Drink

Vegan menu in Tokyo – Part 3

Let me introduce another vegan menu, “Vegan burger” at “Veganic to go”, the vegan restaurant in Roppongi that I introduced the other day. The vegan burger I had was with black beans, cabbage, green vegetables, lotus roots, tomatoes, rice, and buns. I must say the vegan burger I had was beyond my expectation! The vegan […]

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