Of time-traveling robot cats: Five items to celebrate Doraemon
May 6, 2022
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Unless you follow Japanese news you probably missed it, but April 7, 2022, was a sad day for anime lovers and particularly Japanese ones: it was the day Motoo Abiko, aka Fujiko A. Fujio, passed away ...
5 items to celebrate Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon’s 30th birthday
May 5, 2022
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For any Japanese over 40, the realization that this year marks the 30th anniversary of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, the manga/anime industry’s most iconic teenage girl-oriented ...
Five teleworking solutions to help you bring work home
December 21, 2021
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Two and a half years ago, when the world was young and words like “Covid”, “pandemic” or “vaccination passport” weren’t part of everyone’s vocabulary, we published a post about a ...
The other side of Rubik’s Cube: Five Japanese variations of the famous 3D puzzle
October 26, 2021
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I’m old enough to remember when Rubik’s Cube came out: it was in 1981 and suddenly everyone everywhere was talking about that amazing puzzle that put to test even the highest intelligence. Since ...
Mount Fuji Eraser
The Mount Fuji Eraser is a fun and clever way to bring this icon of Japan into your home or work stationery set. As you use the cuboid eraser, the shape of Fuji gradually comes into view and you find yourself holding Japan's most famous peak.
The cup that launched 1,000 ramen: 5 products celebrating 50 years of Cup Noodles
September 30, 2021
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The history of their creator himself is not a rags-to-riches story but there is certainly something dramatic in the tale of the first instant ramen, the Nissin Chikin Ramen. A product of the ...
Sports shoes reimagined: Gundam, indigo dye, and a dog named Hachiko
September 29, 2021
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One of the things that amazes me in Japan is people’s weird relationship to shoes. This is a strange thing to say but I believe I’ve been here enough to have earned the right to not stand in awe ...
Tokyo 2020/2021 Paralympics: Best Someity merchandise
August 24, 2021
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So the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, also known as the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, came and went and, as expected, were enjoyed by the people who wanted to be enjoyed and were ignored by those who didn’t care ...
Get ready for Tokyo 2020 with the best Olympics merchandise
July 20, 2021
/Grigoris Miliaresis
We have now entered the final countdown until the second Tokyo Summer Olympics: there are just days left before the Games that, while actually happening in 2021, are still called “Tokyo 2020” to ...
It’s better to light a candle: Unique Japanese food and drink replica candles
June 30, 2021
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It shouldn’t really surprise anyone with an interest in Japan: people here do pretty much everything their own way, so why wouldn’t they do the same with candles? Yes, there is such a thing as a ...
The secret life of masks: Things to do with your face masks when not wearing them
June 2, 2021
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When I first wrote an article about masks in this blog in April 2020, I didn’t think masks would be still a thing one year later -- I mean, I knew they would still be a thing in Japan, as they ...
A little help from the kami: Shinto amulets for social media
June 1, 2021
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We have mentioned it before on this blog that one of the many things that surprise first- (and often second- and third-) time visitors to Japan is the coexistence of two religions, sometimes ...
Japanese rainy season: Surviving the “plum rain”
May 28, 2021
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The word “monsoon” is hardly ever used in Japan; the Japanese prefer for their rainy season the more poetic “tsuyu.” which means “plum rain” and actually comes from an 8th-century ...
Licca-chan Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Nezuko Kamado
Manga and anime character doll
The real Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba sword by Japanese sword expert Paul Martin
April 30, 2021
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The world of Japanese swords, collectively known as “katana” or “samurai swords,” is a complex one. It encompasses both the martial artists who study traditional swordsmanship either in its ...
Like many other aspects of Japanese culture, coffee became a thing in the islands back in the Edo period (1600-1863) and like many other aspects of Japanese culture that are not native, it had to go ...
Despite the pandemic, Super Nintendo World opens promising bonanza of Mario fun
March 31, 2021
/Grigoris Miliaresis
As the platitude says, the Japanese Islands are like the Galapagos Islands: an ecosystem unlike anything else you will see anywhere else in the world. And even those of us who are tired of all the ...