Tag: Japan

In 2007 a sad event occurred in the town of Aizu-Wakamatsu, which is incidentally famous for being the site of ...

There's a big to-do going on right now over the proposed sale of a chain of luxury hotels operated by ...

As of last November, Japan is officially in a recession. It's an especially bad situation for the country since they're ...

Japan is an extremely cash-based society. Although credit cards have gotten more popular with consumers over the past couple of ...

Although Japan might be famous for sake, wine distilled from rice, the beverage most people order when it's time to ...

I love Japan, really I do, but there are times when I have to shake my head at the lack ...

The word for "foreigner" in Japanese is gaijin, written with kanji meaning outside + person, making it essentially equal to ...

I caught an article on the New York Times website the other day about Japan's little secret, the class of ...

Japanese films (houga) are a unique genre of cinema that I'm fascinated with, and whenever I watch one I'm captivated ...

My favorite Japanese musician is 久石ジョー Hisaishi Joe, the talented composer who created the music for Hayao Miyazaki's most memorable ...

A major category within the world of Japanese comedy is mono-mane (moh-noh MAH-neh), or comedians doing impersonations of famous people, ...

Japan's entertainment world, which encompasses all actors, singers, anime voice actors, bikini idols and everyone else in the public eye, ...

It seems there's no aspect of Japan that can't be made more kawaii. Whether it's a big, faceless bank adopting ...

The shows on Japanese TV around New Year's are especially interesting to watch. I was fascinated with a Japanese variety ...

Today is a special day for Domo-kun, the super-cute Japanese monster character who's become so popular throghout the Internet: it's ...

With the economy in the doldrums in Japan, people here are buckling down as they wait for the recession to ...

It's well known that bowing is something done in Japan as a greeting or to express respect or apology. There ...

Of all the aspects of Japan I had to get used to when I came here, the educational system was ...

Each year the organization that publishes the Standardized Kanji Test announces the "kanji of the year," the single character that ...

Although Japan is certainly not a perfect place, in general there are benefits for gaijin who come here to live. ...

One of the themes of being an American living in Japan is discovering how much the country has taken various ...

What if you met a Japanese person who went around telling "knock knock" jokes in English all the time? It ...

If you go to Tokyo's Shibuya Station right now you can see an incredible piece of art created by late ...

Recently my kids took the Eiken Test, the primary standardized test of English used in Japan. They really dislike it ...