Tag: Buddhism

When you're married to a Japanese woman you should be prepared to hear some surprising observations every once in a ...

Japan's automobile market is quite different from what you may be used to in your own home country. For starters, ...

Japan is about to begin Obon, a three-day Buddhist holiday to remember the souls of one's ancestors, often referred to ...

Japan, of course, is a volcanic archipelago made up of four main islands, which are Honshu, the largest, about the ...

I'm often asked to recommend places to visit by J-List customers who are planning a trip to Japan. It's a ...

Everyone has encountered extremely frustrating individuals who hold opinions so bizarre that it makes us wonder how they could be ...

One of the more interesting paradoxes about Japan is the way around 70% of people here will insist they don't ...

Over the years I've read several novels by James Clavell, which were loosely based on history and set in Hong ...

Are French people Buddhists? Are the Germans lonely? Are the British particularly heroic, and do Americans eat lots of rice? ...

When foreigners come to Japan, it's natural they'll encounter objects that are common and familiar to Japanese people yet strange ...

A few days ago the father of a friend of ours passed away, so we had to go into "Japanese ...

It's funny the way our "base culture" can shape the way we look at the world. The other day I ...

One aspect of Japan I like very much is the way people are generally open to debate and free thought ...

When foreigners come to Japan they're immediately enthralled with the beautiful temples and shrines they encounter here. Japan has two ...

Near J-List there's a park I used to frequent with my kids which had two small hills in the center. ...

Japan is probably the only country where eating too quietly will get comments from people around you. The correct way ...

Today is New Year's Eve, a day to do any last-minute "big cleaning," including getting the car washed, since no ...

Today marks the return of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power, as Shinzo Abe is officially confirmed as Japan's ...

J-List has a popular Twitter feed and Facebook page, and I like to post random slice-of-life thoughts from Japan. When ...

Here in Japan it's beginning to look at lot like Christmas, or as it's known locally, Kurisumasu. In addition to ...

When Japanese couples get ready to have a child, they naturally start making lists of possible baby names. While most ...

One thing that surprised me about the Japanese was how superstitious many people here are, and there are many beliefs ...

It's time for your lesson in Japanese words you already know, because they have the same pronunciations as English words. ...

All languages change and evolve over time, and Japanese is certainly no different. There was no written language in Japan ...