Hida-Takayama Sarubobo
Posted by harvey in Culture, Travel on 31. May, 2006 | 4 Comments
A nice destination for short trip from Nagoya is Hida-Takayama, in Gifu prefecture. The town is well preserved in the old style. You can enjoy traditional architecture, rickshaws, and other local traditions. One of these traditions is the Sarubobo. I have heard that mainly the Sarubobo is meant to be a good luck charm (omamori) [...]
Japan Baka Map
Posted by harvey in Humor on 28. May, 2006 | 3 Comments
This Japan Baka Map site, has a illustration of Japan with fun facts highlighting each area of the country. If you click on one of the areas, it takes you to a wiki which jokingly explains a bit about each place. You need to read Japanese to enjoy more than the first image, but it’s [...]
Ramenz – ラーメンズ
Posted by harvey in Humor on 24. May, 2006 | 4 Comments
Remember the post a while back about the sushi culture introduction video from the comedy duo RAMENZ 「ラーメンズ」? One of my friends from “the office” is a big RAMENZ fan, and has introduced me to even more RAMENZ clips! Look! His blog post even has my name in it! Some of these are flash animations [...]
Gaijin Gifts
Posted by harvey in Crazy Consumers on 21. May, 2006 | 8 Comments
According to the variety store The Loft in Osaka, these happy yet powerful sumo figurines are now the number two gift to buy for friends not lucky enough to be living in Japan. I just noticed these funny wooden sumo miniatures in Loft last week, but I have actually had one in my room in [...]
Mr Donut Choco Fashion
Posted by harvey in Food on 18. May, 2006 | 19 Comments
Mr. Donut is everywhere in Japan. You can get free refills on coffee, and also on cafe au lait when you eat in, and you can also get noodles if you’re hungry for more than a donut. Recently Mr. Donut opened in Taiwan and is a smashing success as well. Apparently people would line up [...]
551 Nikuman
Posted by harvey in Food, Osaka on 14. May, 2006 | 10 Comments
Osaka in Kansai Japan is famous for many things, such as Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, Hanshin Tigers baseball team, fun Kansai dialect, previously mentioned only oblong ferris wheel in the entire known universe, and others… It is also known for the company 551 Horai (known to Japanese as simply “go go ichi”) which makes nikuman, gyoza, and [...]
Kansai-ben Lesson 6 with Bonus!
Posted by harvey in Language, Osaka on 10. May, 2006 | No Comments
Kansai-ben lesson Point 「〜とちゃう？」 A-san is speaking standard Japanese B-san is speaking Kansai Dialect A: あれ、Cちゃんはどうなったの？最近学校で見ないけど。 B: また転校したんとちがう？ A: Eh? What happened to C-san? I haven’t seen her in school recently… B: She probably changed schools again…. A: え、なんだよこれ。また服が縮んだ。 B: また洗濯機の水が熱すぎたんとちゃう？ A: Eh? What is this? My clothes shrunk again! B: The water in the [...]
You can be Takoyaki
Posted by harvey in Food, Humor, Osaka on 09. May, 2006 | 5 Comments
This may be the first time I have ever mentioned takoyaki on this site. Maybe… Or, maybe not. Anyhow, there is an amazing attraction in Osaka near Doutonbori in Namba which will allow you to transform yourself into a takoyaki. There is even room for a friend. This brings new meaning to the phrase “be [...]
