Is it Easy to Make Friends in Japan? My Experience

I have lived in Japan since January of 2015, and I have found it both extremely fun, and at times difficult to work my head around the process of making friends in Japan. There are many factors to consider including Japanese culture specific culture such as honne and tatemae, as well as a cultural difference

Does Language Affect The Way We Think? My Experience as a Bilingual Japanese-English Speaker

I can confirm as a Japanese speaker that the differences seen in frequency of vocabulary, as well as unique words that don’t translate across multiple languages are enough by themselves to significantly alter one’s way of thinking when speaking another language. That being said, in my experience, this change is mostly limited to when you

Are Sumo Wrestlers…Healthy? All About The Sumo Diet And Lifestyle

Sumo wrestler’s diet and unique training techniques lead to a healthier distribution of body fat, as well as a comparative lack visceral fat that allows them to build size while maintaining their health.  What do Sumo wrestlers eat?  Sumo wrestlers traditionally eat two massive meals throughout the day. Their primary meal is Chanko-nabe, which is

What people REALLY Do On Japanese New Year’s

Japanese families traditionally gather to eat seasonal-appropriate foods such as Osechi ryori, and participlate in Hatsumōde (初詣, hatsumōde) which is the first Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year. In Japan, New Year’s is an important holiday to spend with family. But I know the truth…I know what everybody really cares

Why Are There So Many Japanese People Living In Brazil? A Historical Overview

Japanese mass immigration to Brazil began on June 18, 1908 when the steamship Kasato-maru brought the first group of Japanese immigrants to work in coffee plantations of the São Paulo state. This is the result of a treaty between Japan and Brazil meant to bolster Brazil’s agricultural industry. Here’s why… Which country outside of Japan

Do People in Japan Drink Coffee? All About the ‘Third Wave’

In 2019, over 7.5 million 60 kg bags of coffee were consumed in Japan. Japan is one of the biggest coffee-consuming nations in the world, despite the fact that the amount of home-consumption barely creeps into the global top 50 rankings. Why people drink coffee in Japan, and the reason why canned coffee is so

Why Japanese Books are Written From Right-to-Left.

Japanese texts were historically written to be read from the top of the page down, and right to left. This was originally due to China’s influence on Japan’s writing system, since Japan imported Chinese characters or ‘kanji’ in Japanese in the 5th century via routes through Korea. Since then, recently it isn’t uncommon to see

Which Japanese Alphabet Should You Learn First? A Beginner’s Guide

While there are 3 major alphabets in Japanese, Hiragana is the most standard and widely used alphabet that binds the grammar of Japanese together. If you are just starting to learn Japanese characters and are wondering where to begin, you should learn Hiragana first. How to get started learning Hiragana The first thing I would

Is Ramen Chinese or Japanese? A Historic Overview and Guide

Although the dish can be traced back to China, “shina soba” is thought to have been brought to Japan sometime in the 18th or 19th century. Eventually, through many evolutions of the dish, “shina soba” would come to be known as “ramen.”, and would eventually be accepted as a staple Japanese dish. The word ramen

What Do People Do For Fun in Japan? The Concept of “Nijikai”

In a 2019 study by Statistica, when questioned about their hobbies, 54 million Japanese participants responded that in their free time they enjoy domestic travel. 43.5 million participants responded that they enjoy eating out at unique restaurants. This was not a surprising answer for me, as it not only reflects the infrastructure of Japan as