Camping in Japan During the spring, summer and autumn months, there are many places to go camping in Japan. It is a popular activity especially for families with young children. With the summer vacations just around the corner, many of the more well-known sites fill up quickly, so early reservations are recommended. There are many campsites listed on the Japan National Tourism Organization...

Health in Japan Japanese people are said to be among the healthiest nations in the world. There are constantly TV programs dedicated solely to health problems, healthy lifestyles and health products and food. The national health insurance in the country is also universal and does a comparatively competent job at providing affordable care for the population. In this blog which is read by Kumiko...

Japanese fruits In Japan there are a wide variety of fruits available to eat and enjoy Some of these have been introduced from abroad, but many people do tend to remark on how different some Japanese versions of the fruits they eat daily back at home taste. The farming techniques are very advanced, well-researched and meticulously implemented with many fruits harvested and packaged in just one...

Aging of Japan's population Japan is experiencing a “super-aging” society with one of the highest proportion of elderly citizens in the world. All over the country, you can find services and health advice for the elderly. There are also many old people's homes and day-care centers for the retired citizens. The employment of aging people has been on the increase and one of the topics that is...

Golden Week Golden Week is a period of the year around the end of April and beginning of May when many Japanese workers roughly 6 to 8 days off around in the year. It comes about because of a group of holidays that coincidentally fell close to each other. There are 4 National holidays at this time, Green or Greenery Day, the Emperor Showa's birthday, Constitution Day and Children's day. This...

Japanese pop and Karaoke music. Karaoke was a huge phenomenon in Japan during the Heisei era especially for Japanese pop music culture. Many young people would use the 'Karaoke boxes' as their primary entertainment spot and older business people would find a method of stress release by singing their favorite oldies. There are many songs from the Heisei era that strike a nostalgic chord among...

Payments in Japan In Japan, there are various ways to make payments. Most people tend to prefer to make payments with cash, but the government and businesses are currently pulling towards a cashless style of payments. Credit card payments and paying with smartphone-based mobile money is increasing. And there are a number of competing services that are fighting for dominance in the growing...

The collection of ten thousand leaves The Manyoshu or 'Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves' is an anthology of ancient Japanese poems compiled during the Nara imperial era in Japan. The Manyoshu is often referred to as the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry and the era is regarded as a high point of Japanese poetry. In this blog by a Japanese language teacher, Emi Sakude, she introduces this...

Japanese fiscal and school years The fiscal and school years begin in April in Japan. This is the month when schools have their entrance ceremonies and companies welcome new recruits./p> It is also the month when the cherry blossoms bloom all around the country. The image of celebrating the changes in lives and new environments is almost a cliché in Japan. Read this interesting blog by Rie...

Local cuisine in Japan Japanese people really enjoy traveling and eating. When they travel to a certain area, then love to try the local food that is sold there, and taste the local specialties. There is a lot of TV and magazine coverage on the different cuisine that can be found in each town, city, and prefecture around Japan. And it is rare to switch on the TV and not find at least one program...