Onsen? Ryokan? Japan being on the intersection of seismic plates is leading to earthquakes, but also to hot water which is used in bathes, so called Onsen. A Ryokan is a traditional style of hotel in Japan, with tatami mat covered rooms, often a bath attached, including good meals and services like preparing futon beds in the evening for visitors. Japanese sometimes go to Onsenmeguri, which means ‘travel with stay [Read More]

There is great food in Japan, let me share a week of autumn food in Japan. I do not eat much for breakfast, but for lunch I visit various places. Keema-Nattou Curry Fridays Keema-Nattou curry with rice. Keema is minced meet, Nattou is a speciality from Japan often eaten for breakfast, these are fermented soybeans. Fermented means ‘has been changed’, like sauerkraut in Germany, or Kimuchi in Korea. Also in [Read More]

Intro I get weekly Japanese lessons via Skype. At the moment we are reading Japanese news articles: discussing grammar and rare words, and the topic itself. After 5 years, my teacher knows me well enough to select topics which are interesting to me. Recently we read the article Is it hard to live in Japan?. Seems like my teacher shortened the article to 5 points - after reading the original I find the shorter version more to the point. [Read More]