Fireworks, Deceased Spirits, and Teruteru-bōzu

In the UK, fireworks are associated with autumn/winter, specifically Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th as well as s…

Keeping Monster Mosquitoes at Bay: Katori-senkō and Katori Shingo

A mosquito coil 10 pack Back in the day when I spoke only broken Japanese - I arrived in Japan in 1992 knowing little more than k…

Extremely Hot Days and Tropical Nights: Keeping Cool during the Fierce Japanese Summer

Weather forecast from the July 9th Yomiuri Shimbun © The official end of the rainy season ( tsuyu ake =梅雨明け) has just been annou…

Unmanned Vegetable Stalls: Reflection of a Honest Society?

A mujin-hanbai - jō unmanned vegetable kiosk Central Tokyo may be a bustling concrete jungle but over in Western Tokyo we're…

Entry Prohibited! Remembering Kanji through Everyday Signs

Tachi-iri kinshi (no entry) Returning from a trip to the UK, I will never forget the moment I reached my one-room apartment in J…

Snake Road and the Last Shogun: Tokyo Nostalgia Part 2

Kannonji Temple's Tsuiji-bei old mud wall After visiting the Shitamachi Museum I was curious to see how much of the "ol…

The Japanese Character: Courteous or Short-tempered?

One of the most common images of the Japanese, both inside and outside Japan, is that they are courteous ( reigi-tadashii =礼儀正しい…

Torii Gates - Big and Small

Motoki no Ishi Torii (left) in Yamagata City Everyone is familiar with the traditional Japanese gate or torii (鳥居） most commonly …

The New Sex-Crime Revisions and Chikan

A poster at station pointing out that "Chikan" is a crime Friday saw ground-breaking revisions ( kaisei =改正） to the pe…

Rain, Snails, and Japanese Animal Names

On Wednesday, the rainy season was officially announced to have begun in Tokyo. The start of the rainy season is known as tsuyu…

Fuka-Fuka Futons

Futons hanging over the balcony to air  in an apartment block When the weather is nice most Japanese take the opportunity to air …

Sticky, Sultry, Humid Japan: Coming Soon

Early summer ( shoka =初夏） is a lovely cool season in Japan; today was a perfect 26℃ with a cool breeze blowing and beautiful blue…

Million Yen Melons in Early Summer

A Quincy Melon with QR Code to check the sugar content Japanese tend to be very conscious of the changing of the seasons and seas…

Love Hotels and Disappearing Children

One of Japan's ubiquitous love hotels Love hotels are pretty much everywhere in Japan and despite their seedy image in the We…