There are several frustrations that foreigners can experience during their time in Japan, one discussed before was banking, another is long-term accommodation – renting an apartment.  Why is it such a chore?  Well moving to a new place is a stressful event at the best of times, but to do so in a foreign language [...]

Recently I’ve been trying to get out and get more hiking done in and around Tokyo so each time I get to do something, I’ll try and write up a quick summary for you so if you’re interested, you can have a go at it too.
The route
The route I took was Mitake-san (御岳山) → Ōdake-san [...]

It’s long-since been regarded as a great 1-day trip out of Tokyo.  This is nothing new for anyone who has lived in Tokyo for a while and it’s typically one of the first places ex-pat residents will visit, and a noticeable omission from any guide book.  So why is this the case?  Is it worth [...]

Recently I have become very conscious about what foods I eat, especially when eating out.  If possible now I aim for the vegetarian option, and where the option exists, I shoot for the organic / macrobiotic catering restaurants.  The whys and wherefors for this can be followed on my personal blog as I explore and [...]

There are quite a few public holidays in Japan… there are some special days though which are not national public holidays but are typically taken as holidays by the Japanese.  Below is a quick list of the dates for official national holidays. 

Any visitor to Japan, or to any other South-East Asian country, will be familiar with the sights of a Buddhist Temple or two, or four, or ten…  Possibly, you’ve gone to a few Temple sites, taken them in and been ready to jump off the next Pagoda that dares to greet you.  There is sometimes [...]

Ever wondered how the incredible mesh, that is the Tokyo underground rail network, looks from space?  Well since it’s underground, it doesn’t really matter how far up you go, you wont be able to see it…
But… someone has gone to the trouble of super-imposing all the subway lines and their stations onto a Google Map, [...]

Tokyo… it’s a pretty big place.
Officially as of October 2007, the population of Tokyo is approximately 10% of country, which is roughly 12.790 million people.  The Tokyo prefecture is the 3rd smallest by land area (2.187km²) making it the most densely populated prefecture.  So how does everyone get around and reach all these places?  It’s [...]

Before ever venturing out anywhere in Japan, either for a day-trip, or a party/event, I will nearly always print a map for where I’m going. It’s part of my character and I don’t really know what other way to operate comfortably.
If for example I’m given an address for a venue, I will nearly always [...]

There are 2 main aspects to “using” Japanese on your Windows XP machine: viewing Japanese, and writing with Japanese. It’s all very simple, and here’s how:

If you’re looking to find another option for Japanese language teachers, then I’m writing this to suggest to you another great one.  If you go to a Japanese language institution, you will typically have group lessons for approximately 4000~6000 yen / 60mins or 90mins.  If you want to get a private, 1-on-1 lesson, you will [...]

If you’re looking to do online shopping in Japan, there are many websites that allow you to do just that, but of course, 99% of them are in Japanese.  An exception to this is Amazon.co.jp. where they have a partially bilingual website allowing you to browse and search for products in English also.
However, the sign-up [...]

If you’re living in Japan one thing I will definitely say is that learning the language will 0pen up the world to you here.  You will be able to read menus in restaurants, communicate with people here in their native tongue and in general, while you’ll probably always be different you can at least live [...]