In this roundtable discussion, we look back on our past in Japan to help you plan ahead for your future. Moving to a new country on a whim can be fun and exciting, but as you’ll…
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The Best Places to Live, Work, and Play in Tokyo
Tokyo is massive. The megacity, which doubles as a prefecture, includes endless urban cityscapes, tropical islands hundreds of kilometers off the coast, and mountains crisscrossed with hiking trails. A city of cities (also known as wards),…
Things to Consider Before Moving to Japan
With foreign residents in Japan reaching record numbers, our editorial team thought it would be a good time to reminisce about our halcyon days in Tokyo and share a few things that we’ve learned during our…
Three Perspectives on Learning Japanese
As three authors from three different countries, we all share one common thread. We’ve all achieved a working knowledge of Japanese, and each of us has done so in our own unique way. There’s no single…
Clearing Up Misconceptions about Train Punctuality
Japan’s train system is legendary for its punctuality. Peruse any travel book or Japan-related website and you’ll find countless tales of how trains always arrive at their station on time—rarely more than a minute late. If…
The Secrets of the Tatami and Making them for 6 Generations
I had the pleasure to have a talk with Mr. Tsunekawa, a young tatami craftsman. His family has been making tatami for generations in their small, 160 years old workshop in Tokyo. A bit shy at…
Japan Origin Stories: How, When, and Why We Came to Japan
With a combined experience of nearly 35 years living and working in Japan, Amelie, David, and I figured it was high time we had a roundtable discussion about how we ended up in the land of…
The Goshuincho: A Necessity for Japan Travel Enthusiasts
When it comes to things that I wish I had known before visiting (and eventually moving to) Japan, the goshuincho, a book used for collecting ink stamps and calligraphy from Japanese shrines, tops the list. So,…