in Japan The Coronavirus disease in Japan is spreading, as it is in other Asian countries. People have been panic-buying toilet and tissue paper and the supply of masks in drug stores has been depleted for almost a month now. There is little in the way of good news on the horizon as the country tries to curb the spread of the virus before the crucial April start of the...

Homemade cooking Although there are many great places to eat out in Japan, most families actually eat in most of the time. And there is a deep culture of making food at home too. Some Japanese housewives make their own miso paste and there are bread-making at home became quite a craze in recent years. This blog by Ms. Chie Eguchi who is a Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI), explains one homemade...

Japanese desserts There are many traditional Japanese desserts that use local ingredients like rice and red bean paste. These include mochi and daifuku. But there are also some western desserts that use cream and butter for example cakes and cookies. But in this blog for Japanese learners, Japanese teacher Yuki Kamiyama introduces desserts that use fruits that are in season. Read this...

Japanese sweets There are many kinds of sweets to be found in Japan. From the traditional Wagashi which use local and unique ingredients, to sweets that were imported to Japan at various points of the Japanese history. In this interesting blog about interesting sweets, Kaori Ishibashi, a Japanese teacher at Japonin(JOI), introduces one type of sweets that sounds fun to make and delicious to eat....

Rail transport in Japan There are a very large number of train companies in Japan. The rail system in Japan was privatized in 1987 and the Japan Railways (JR Group) was established as a result. There are 6 regional JR railway companies, JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Shikoku, and JR Kyushu, and also a freight railway company. And then there are many private rail companies that run...

Japanese pottery Japanese pottery and porcelain are one of the oldest crafts and art forms in Japan. There are many kilns and famous districts for pottery which are distinguished by the differences in local clay and traditional techniques. Since ceramics are held in high esteem due to their connection to the tea ceremony, the artistic traditions are well-funded and popular even among modern...

Temples in Japan There are many temples and shrines in Japan. Temples are part of the Buddhist religion and Shrines are part of the Shinto religion. Some of these places of worship are very famous and have a lot of daily visitors for sight-seeing and praying. But others are less well-known but often have some interesting back story as to their origin or specialize in one aspect of life (like...

Japan's Working Style Reform' initiative Japan has had a long tradition of lifetime employment policies and time-based wages. But with the Abe government's initiative to reform the work-life balance of the labour force, there have been some changes in the market. In this blog for Japanese learners, Japanese teacher Ayako Suzuki talks about how these reforms could affect how people take their new...

Japanese gardens When people talk about Japanese gardens, they usually refer to the beautiful and artistic traditional gardens that can be found in every prefecture across the country. But one of the things that are also interesting to look at the gardens that belong to individual Japanese families. Many Japanese houses feature small but immaculately kept gardens that can be a wonder to look at....

Japanese stationary can be a great gift to give as a souvenir of your travels to Japan. There are many unique and well-designed pieces of stationery, including pens, mechanical pencils and cute color-themed or branded goods that can only be bought in specific stores. In this blog for Japanese learners, Maki Igarashi introduces some really unique and interesting stationery....