As peak travel season approaches, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo is offering the following security tips to help visitors stay safe while enjoying Tokyo’s world-famous nightlife. The general crime rate in Japan is well below the U.S. national average, and Tokyo, like all of Read More …
Located in Cat Street in Harajuku is the store, SHIPS. With a history that goes as far back as 1970, SHIPS began as “MIURA” which sold imported casual clothing. In 1975, MIURA & SONS opened their Shibuya store which was followed by the SHIPS Ginza Read More …
In 2013, located in Cat Street in Harajuku is fashion designer, Marc Jacobs’ “BOOKMARC”. Designed by Stephan Jaklitsch, BOOKMARC sells books specializing in art, music culture and photography. And the concept of the store happened when bookstores began to disappear from the global landscape. Marc Read More …
In America, we think of pancakes as breakfast food and food we make at home early in the morning or go to a place like IHOP or Denny’s breakfast. Typically, we are used to the thin pancakes that we put butter and syrup. But in Read More …
I’m often asked about how safe Japan is but also get asked a few times if there is graffiti and if it’s as bad as how things are in the US? Well, graffiti does exist, but not in the same manner in the US that Read More …
It’s Obon Festival time!!! I have blogged in the past about what an Obon Festival is and covered various events. And now the first Obon festival that I attended in the Central Valley for 2017 took place in the city of Visalia, California in Tulare Read More …
Vegetable garden update – June 24th. WTF!!! With the intense heat…my zucchini, bell pepper, kale and cauliflower plants which looked fantastic last weekend did not make it. With the temperatures reach between 105-110 degrees…they didn’t make it. According to this website: http://www.plantanswers.com/garden_column/june03/4.htm High temperatures speed Read More …
“Korczak” is a powerful film that highlights one of the well-known humanitarians of the holocaust. Where monuments of Dr. Janusz Korczak is seen in Warsaw, of him holding the hands of children. He has left a legacy showcasing one man’s refusal to adapt to the Read More …
One of the most popular fishing YouTube channels, with over 1.75 million subscribers and over ten years of content, 釣りよかでしょう “Tsuri Yoka Desho” (which translates to “Fishing is Great, Isn’t It?”) continues to rake over a fifty thousand viewers per video, with many reaching over Read More …
In yesterday’s post, I discussed the Okakura Tenshin Memorial Site in Yanaka and how he started the Japan Art Institute (Nihon Bijutsuin). But not far from the Memorial Site is the Tomb of Kano Hogai, a famouse Japanese painter of the early Meiji era. A Read More …
Okakura Kakuzo (a.k.a. Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese scholar who is known for the development of arts in Japan. Best known for his book “The Book of Tea”, Okakura was a scholar who learned English while attending a school which was operated by a Christian Read More …
So far the cherry tomatoes are kicking in…primarily the normal cherry tomatoes, chocolate cherry and the super snow white. I will have to say the snow white cherry tomatoes are absolutely sweet and delicious and definitely will continue to plant those. Costata Romanesco and Striata Read More …
When I was a college student, I surprised everyone in my class when I built a makeshift island. It was a lot of work, took a lot of time but I wanted to create something unique and different. Needless to say, it was heavy and Read More …
Outside of Japan, the Yo-Zuri brand is known for their lures. But in Japan itself, the company is DUEL, which is a Japanese fishing tackle manufacturer located in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City in Fukuoka Prefecture. They manufacture lures, squid jigs, fishing lines and other small fishing Read More …
For those who are visiting the Meiji Shrine, sometimes you may find flower arrangements to village dioramas that were beautifully decorated. While I don’t know too much on the history of the actual dioramas, I do know that the chrysanthemum exhibition is often held in Read More …
You booked a flight and got it very cheap and you are now excited. But many travelers are learning that the cheap flight they paid for was “basic economy” and not regular “economy”. And for those who have read about the confusion, frustration or the Read More …
Located in Omotesando (Tokyo) and in Osaka is a specialty shop known as Crayonhouse. Created with children and also the disabled in mind, Keiko Ochiai wanted to create a company that was not male or adult-centered. She wanted a place where children can enjoy and Read More …
Back in 1951, American author James Jones’ novel “From Here to Eternity” was released. Loosely based on his life as part of Company E of the Hawaiian’s Division’s 27th Infantry, the novel would win the National Book Award and would receive the distinction as one Read More …
I have eaten at awesome sushi restaurants throughout Japan and in America, I’ve eaten sushi throughout California. So, whenever people tell me to try a restaurant out, I usually wait in three’s. That is if I hear three people telling me to check it out, Read More …
Located near Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium is a shrine known as Hatonomorihachiman Shrine. Established in 860 AD, the shrine built and named after the forest originally in the location, was created under the request of the villagers, so a Goshintai (an object worshiped and housed Read More …
The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the Hurricane and Typhoon Seasons in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane and Typhoon Season will last through November 2017, though most tropical cyclones typically develop between May and October. Read More …
For those visiting/shopping at Aoyama/Omotesando (and a second location at Minato Mirai in Yokohama) will no doubt want to check out Anniversaire Cafe. The name meaning “anniversary” in French, the restaurant was established in 1998, the restaurant is known for it’s house-made pastry and their Read More …
For those who are looking for an electric pressure washer, Stanley offers different types of electric pressure washers. The one I am reviewing is the lower-priced 1600 psi (Stanley SHP 1600 Electric Pressure Washer) and is much cheaper as it has a lower psi (which Read More …