Like this post? Help us by sharing it! The beauty of Japanese kanji characters is that they can convey so much meaning in so few strokes. Take the kanji “wa” 和 for example. It has numerous connotations wrapped up in just eight simple lines, and one those meanings, “harmony”, is particularly significant during this time of worldwide crisis. Let’s […]
Culture & History
Shojin-ryori: Cuisine of spiritual progression
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! I know it sounds bizarre, but some of my first impressions of Japan are of vegetables. There’s a scene in Hiyao Miyazaki’s animated classic My Neighbor Totoro in which two little girls, having recently moved out to the country, explore a neighbouring granny’s garden in the early summertime. They chill fresh-picked tomatoes and cucumbers in a running stream, then crunch […]
Salaryman vs. Kawaii
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! When I first started learning Japanese at high school, I was interested only peripherally in Japanese pop culture. This made me stand out from my classmates, who were strides ahead of me already because of their love of Japanese comics, animation, and movies. They could confidently introduce […]
Paper Screens: Book Recommendations
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! So many wonderful books have been written to help us better understand the Japanese people. These books help us reconcile the contradiction of a culture that finds beauty in unrefined simplicity and yet feels infinitely bizarre and complex to most foreigners. Travellers, scholars, and Japanophiles have written volumes about […]
Culture Shock every day in Japan
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! If you’ve spent any time in Japan, you know it can be quite a bewitching place. The delicious food. The quiet shrines. The peaceful gardens. For some, that is enough. Their time in Nippon goes by in a flash and they leave with cherished memories. For others, they […]
Tiny torii of Kyoto
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! As you’re strolling around the narrow streets of Kyoto, you might notice little red torii gates, affixed to the walls or tucked down on the ground. Usually, a torii gate is a sure sign there’s a shrine nearby, but here it’s just a blank wall. What’s up with that? There’s a […]
Like this post? Help us by sharing it! As you’re strolling around the narrow streets of Kyoto, you might notice little red torii gates, affixed to the walls or tucked down on the ground. Usually, a torii gate is a sure sign there’s a shrine nearby, but here it’s just a blank wall. What’s up with that? There’s a […]