Blogs

  Japanese is a culture of etiquette, with elaborate rules for table manners.The following is a brief tutorial on Japanese table manners and polite phrases, which you can practice … read more

Kinoko-gohan is one of my autumn favorites. I have used a frying pan with a lid to cook the rice since I often get asked for Japanese recipes from friends who don’t have a Japanese rice cooker. … read more

I often get asked about the best season to visit Japan. Such a seemingly simple question. However, there are more choices and more “seasons” than most people realize. Japan is a land of … read more

In July, the sun rises before 5:30 in Miyazaki, and my day starts early. By 7 o’clock, Momo (my 5-year-old Papillon) and Yuki (my 2-year-old Japanese Spitz) have had their morning stroll by a … read more

A sure sign of summer’s arrival in Japan is warm, pleasant rains of early May, called samidare.The picture above was taken in Miyazaki Shrine. The priestess ladies are about to begin their workday, wh … read more