Before I went to Japan for my first time as an exchange student, I believed the generalization that Japan is extremely healthy and that I would lose several pounds by not even trying. Although I spent…
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The Truth about Eshima Ohashi
You may have seen pictures of the Eshima Ohashi Grand Bridge online without knowing where it was, or if it was fake. Here is a short summary of facts and the truth about this mysterious-looking bridge….
Using a Kindle in Japan: 4 Reasons to Buy One, and 4 Steps to Make it Work for You
The first time I went to Japan as an exchange student, I got a little too excited with the books. Books, and not just textbooks, are amazing language learning tools, and Book Off and the Amazon.co.jp…
Buying an Akiya or Vacant House in Japan
Akiya, or vacant houses in Japan, have become a hot topic on international news websites. Articles about Japan giving away countryside houses for free or for 500 US dollars have fueled the dreams of people desiring…
Landing a Job in Japan in 2022: Career Outlook for Foreign Residents
To be honest, when I first conceived of this article, I was overly optimistic. In the fall of 2021, COVID-19 cases in Japan were at an all-time low, and there was that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it window where students…
Tea Varieties From Japan
In Japan, 99.9 percent of the tea produced is green. All the famous Japanese teas, such as sencha, gyokuro, and hōjicha, are green teas. So what is the difference between all the tea varieties from Japan?…
Discovering Kyoto’s Gardens through Interactive Live Documentaries
Andrew William is a U.S. national who has been living in Kyoto for more than 10 years. After a career in garden design in both countries, his love for the town and its lesser-known gardens has…
Looking Back on 2021 as a Foreign Resident in Japan
It’s February 2022 and Japan is in the midst of its sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with much of the country under a quasi-state of emergency. Foreign tourists and new long-term residents remain barred from…
Seeing Kanji as Color: Japanese in the Mind of a Synesthete
My mind is perhaps more colorful than yours–and I mean that in an objective sense. I have synesthesia, a condition in which one sense is stimulated automatically with another. These can come in all sorts of…
Visiting Prospective Apartments: What to Look out for in Japan
In my previous article, I shared 20 tips for research and communication as you go about the search for a new apartment. Hopefully, you will find a few apartments to your liking and want to go…