Last week, I was on a train on the way to work and I caught a wrong train that only went as far to Nakano station. I disembarked and waited a few minutes to ride another train that actually went to my destination. Wandering along the platform, I saw the usual drinks vending machine....then a … Continue reading Unique vending machines in Japan
As mentioned in the last week's post, I had a weekend to myself as my husband skied with his friends from Australia. https://nativeexpat.home.blog/2025/01/25/3-recommended-tokyo-bookstores-to-spend-hours-in/ Rather than perusing at a bookstore, I instead visited a picture book cafe in Harajuku called See More Glass. About the picture book cafe, Cafe See More Glass Opened in 1996, a … Continue reading Japanese artist spotlight: Arai Ryoji & picture book cafe in Harajuku
This weekend, I am flying solo as my husband is off on a ski trip with his friends visiting from Australia. Luckily, Tokyo is a haven for soloists. Many people enjoy a quiet time in cafes, eats alone (they are many counter seating that makes it comfortable) and the sight is so common that it … Continue reading 3 recommended Tokyo bookstores to spend hours in
2024 was a record breaking year for Japan - more than 36.8 million foreign visitors came to Japan! Driven by weak yen, flights offered to Japan post pandemic and Conde Nast Traveller's Top Countries in the World: Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 #1 country, Japan offers a lot of reason to visit. https://www.cntraveler.com/story/top-countries-in-the-world South Korea, China … Continue reading What can’t be brought into Japan | must read for those planning a trip to Japan
Japan has been one of the hottest travel destinations and there is no signs or reasons to slow down. Between January to October 2024, over 30million international visited Japan. https://www.tourism.jp/en/tourism-database/stats/inbound/ With domestic and especially international guests filling up nearly every accommodations in major tourist ski resorts including Niseko in Hokkaido, Hakuba and Nozawa Onsen in … Continue reading Skiing in Nekoma Mountain, Fukushima
Happy New Year!The year 2025 is the year of snake (巳 mi 🐍) in 干支(Eto or Lunar Year). What is Eto? Eto is the Chinese Zodiac with 12 animals in the order of: Rat Ox Tiger Rabbit Dragon Snake Horse Sheep (Goat for Chinese) Monkey Rooster Dog Boar (Pig for Chinese) The origin story goes … Continue reading Happy 2025- the year of snake
2024 is nearly at the end and one of the activity that marks the year end wrap in Japan is the one word that sumps up the year presented by 日本漢字能力検定協会 (Japanese Kanji Knowledge Testing Association) every December 12th. The same as 2000, 2012, 2016, 2021 and for the 5th time since the start of … Continue reading A word to sum up 2024
As the temperature plummets, being inside our home and being cozy becomes more and more tempting. One of the best Japanese way to enjoy your home is to light an incense. Just with what we have now, we have a range of incense and as you can see, we quite like incense. We love using … Continue reading How to make Japanese natural incense
One of the great things about living in Tokyo is that there are many suburbs, each with distinct flavor and in each area, there are so much to do. So in the series, Tokyo suburb highlight, I'd like to feature 神楽坂 (Kagurazaka). It feels so Japanese yet as it's called "Little Paris of Tokyo", there … Continue reading Tokyo suburb highlight: Kagurazaka
The unseasonably warm autumn ended last week and just as autumn ended, we finally we spent a little bit of autumn activity in Tokyo - the classic walk along gingko tree lines of Meiji Jingu in Aoyama. About Gingko tree lines of Meiji Jingu Tree lines of Meiji Jingu is located in the heart of … Continue reading Autumn walk along the historic gingko tree lines of Meiji Jingu
Native Expat 