Japanese Pastries: Red Beans and Rice
While Japan has a plethora of “Western-style” bakeries in which you’ll find the typical cakes, cookies, cupcakes, éclairs and other pastries you’re used to finding…
Pan: Japanese Bread
Elsewhere on the site, we’ve discussed manju, “steam buns,” and briefly, we mentioned anpan as well. A look at Japanese food wouldn’t be complete without…
Japanese Comfort Dishes
Warm foods like chicken soup and vitamin-rich foods like oranges help Westerners clear up their sinuses and build their immunities. When ill in Japan, there…
A New Prime Minister
It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I was discussing how Japan’s Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio stepped down after only eight months to…
Visting Nara for Culture and History
The city of Nara in Nara Prefecture is a quiet, gorgeous place that lovers of history must visit when in Japan. A city of about…
Learning Japanese Hand Gestures
When you’re learning to speak and read Japanese, enough of your energy is spent on reading books and online tutorials about conjugations and kanji that…
Lunch in Japan: The Bento
When bringing food from home for lunch at school or work, the menu generally consists of last night’s leftovers in a Tupperware container or a…
Kyoto: The Original Capital of Japan
With nearly 1.5 million residents, the city of Kyoto in the Kyoto Prefecture is the 7th largest city in Japan, but it’s also one of…
Perusing the Japanese Menu with Fake Food
Today we’re not going to discuss Japanese food–at least not the type of food you can eat. Instead, we’re going to examine the fake Japanese…
What’s a Jibly?: Traditional Animation Has Never Left Japan
This past December’s theatrical release of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog reminded anyone over the age of 10 that Walt Disney was once a…
Japan and Custody Battles: Facing U.S. Pressure
It was recently reported at Japan Today that the U.S. House of Representatives is asking Japan to re-think its policy on custody battles that involve…
Carry Things the Japanese Way: How to Fold a Furoshiki
A few weeks ago, we discussed the bento lunch in Japan and briefly mentioned the wrappings via which a bento box is usually carried: the…