Last weekend, we drove an hour from Tokyo to Chiba near Narita Airport for some Texan barbecue restaurant that we found on instagram called T's BBQ. When I sent the photo of the interior of this container restaurant to my friend living in Texas, he was surprised with all the Texan stickers! No wonder it's … Continue reading From Texas to traditional Japan in 10 minutes in Narita
Tokyo Rockabilly: time slip to the 50's in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo Last week, one of my kiwi friends had a 40's birthday party with a Tokyo theme - Tokyo Rockabilly. I knew about them but I never really thought carefully so I did some research. What is Tokyo Rockabilly Every Sunday (weather permitting), in Harajuku’s … Continue reading Tokyo Rockabilly: time slip to the 50’s in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo
In this blog, I want to shine a spotlight on the suburb with a 'celebrity' status full of embassies, mixture of international yet old-school Japan vibe, 麻布十番(Azabujyuban). Where is Azabujuban? Azabujuban is located in Minato ward, right next to Roppongi and just a short walk or train ride from Hiroo, Akabanebashi, and Azabu-dai. Azabjyuban has … Continue reading Tokyo neighborhood highlight: Azabujuban
I have recently joined a picture book workshop where we create stories and illustrations. Our first project was creating our own version of Little Red Riding Hood. As there are literally thousand versions of Little Red Riding Hood, I wanted to change it up a lot and created a Japanese version. To create this, I … Continue reading Japanese culture highlights: Tanuki
For those taking extra few days off work (like me!), today is the start of 11 days off Golden Week in Japan. Find out about golden week from my previous post: https://nativeexpat.home.blog/2019/04/26/what-is-golden-week-and-the-cheapest-way-to-narita-airport/ 2025’s Golden Week is what is called “飛び石連休“ （Tobi ishi renkyu or skipping stones public holidays) as the Golden Week is on Tuesday … Continue reading Golden Week 2025 – not so golden?
Tokyo boasts one of the most michelin restaurants in the world but high-end restaurants aren't just what Tokyo is famous for. 6 of top 50 best pizzas in Asia-Pacific are right in Tokyo. That's pretty special when the list includes many Australian restaurants that will have direct roots back to Italy! If you include all … Continue reading 6 of top 50 best pizzas in Asia-Pacific are right here in Tokyo
At the start of the week, cherry blossoms started to bloom with lots of buds still on the trees. Towards mid-week, there were cherry blossoms bit by bit around Tokyo: I thought cherry blossoms are blossoming earlier due to global warming but apparently cherry blossoms are blooming later than usual..or something not at all. I … Continue reading Japanese icons that may become a mere symbol
As Japanese culture is highly linked to seasons, spring equinox (春分の日）which was Thurs March 20 was a public holiday. I've mentioned in previous blog posts that Japanese sweets called 和菓子 (wagashi) is quite seasonal like sakuramochi, refreshing citrus jelly in summer, and chestnut and persimmon filled/inspired sweets in autumn. Not just seasonal, there are sweets … Continue reading Spring equinox – spring Japanese sweets
Last Friday, I wanted to do something a bit different to the usual dining out or watch movie on our home projector. I wanted to be more active and hitting up the batting center crossed my mind like when I did back in Shinjuku, https://nativeexpat.home.blog/2019/04/20/discoveries-made-by-living-in-japan-for-2-months/ but decided to go retro and hit up 'ge-sen' or … Continue reading Game on! Japanese Game Arcade
Last weekend was warm and sunny all around with plum blossoming, early cherry blossoms blooming. It was a perfect time to go for drive to visit a museum. You'd think that visiting a museum is a rainy day activity but I specifically wanted to visit Ichihara Lakeside Museum on a sunny day as it's located … Continue reading Art in Japan – Ichihara Lakeside Museum in Chiba
Native Expat 