Giant trees in Japan In Japan, you can find a lot of ancient nature and especially some very ancient trees. They can be found dotted around the country and often in and around Shinto shrine grounds. Many of them are designated as holy sites and you can often see huge ropes tied around them to indicate that they are sacred trees. Many modern Japanese people refer to these trees as 'power spots' a...

Auspicious signs and omens in Japan In ancient Japan, much in the same way as many ancient cultures, there were many methods and ideas about how to read the future and predict the onset of good or bad times. With the widely varying seasons and natural disasters in Japan, for farming and fishing communities, predicting future weather conditions and phenomena was actually critical to the way of li...

Osaka food Japan is a great country for people who enjoy a gourmet experience. There are many Japanese people and foreign tourists that travel throughout Japan just to eat the great food of different cities and prefectures in the country. Japanese online teacher Emi Sakude introduces one gourmet experience that can be found in her hometown of Osaka. But it is not what you would expect. When peo...

Dentists in Japan  There are a very very large number of dentists in Japan. Some people joke that there are more dentists than convenience stores or hair-dressers. Although this is obviously an exaggeration, there are a surprising number of private clinics in most cities in Japan. The quality of dental care can vary from clinic to clinic and for complicated or invasive surgery, ma...

Hokkaido cuisine and food In Japan there are many places well know for their food, but the most popular one is probably Hokkaido. Hokkaido is famous for its fresh fish and dairy products. And in each local area, there are other special farming products and specialty cuisines. In this fascinating blog by a Japanese language teacher, Sayuri Itaya sensei explains one of the highlights of the Hokka...