Japan might be the country of green tea, but can you find a good coffee?
Of course Japan has the likes of Starbucks, Seattle’s Best, Tully’s and a few others, but there are also some great little local cafes and some larger Japanese run chain cafes.
San-Maruku, is one of the better chain coffee shops and …
Spotted this sign on the way into Max Value, one of the abundant country supermarket chains.
Guess they thought that a firecracker might not catch people’s attention (funny point: in summer Japanese supermarkets sell fireworks), where as a bomb would. Well, it worked.
More Engrish confusion. Above the word player plus meaningless period this ad for Tipness fitness gym says “Even more, fun sweat” (もっと、楽しい汗を) Motto, tanoshii ase wo) and the small print in the corner says “Play/Enjoy (アソブタノシム AsobuTanoshimu) Body/Move (カラダウゴカス KaradaUgokasu). For the most part the word “asobu” (to play) has similar meanings and uses to …
Oh, the Japanese and the ways they unknowingly disturb us native English speakers. I had to buy this lovely near-beer product when I saw it. Unfortunately, as you can see, for a product that proudly announces the creaminess of its whiteness, it doesn’t give good head. It was creamy smooth as it went down my …
One of the cool things about living in Kagawa is that it’s the birthplace of udon (of course there is a lot of history surrounding the origins of Japanese udon) and pretty much the only place you go in Japan if you want to eat really good udon noodles.
Kagawa people love udon, they can eat …
Most people will be familiar with sushi rolls, god knows the western world loves them, but in the average Japanese household they are not made that often, unless it’s for a special occasion i.e. Setsubun. Perhaps because its tedious work, for whatever reason most people prepare a version know as temaki sushi (手巻寿司) which translates …
After doing a bit of shopping today we stopped off at the local tai-yaki (たいやき) shop to pick up some of the delicious bean paste filled snacks.
Tai-yaki is one of those great Japanese snack foods that can be found at street vendors, festival stalls, tako yaki shops, taiyaki shops and pretty much everywhere in between. …
Kinoko no yama (きのこの山) meaning mountain of mushrooms and takenoko no sato (たけのこの里) meaning countryside of bamboo shoots are probably one of my top 10 Japanese snacks, sure they are just chocolate and little biscuits but its the presentation that counts and makes them taste so damn good.
They were one of the first snacks I …
I would like to introduce one of my favorite Japanese music labels.
Second Royal Records are a Kyoto based record label run by Osanai-kun. He is a very soft spoken guy, but has followed his passion for music and built a pretty cool and sucessful label along the way. Second Royal is home to, Halfby, Handsomeboy …
