I have become quite fascinated by Japanese surnames, and it is a pleasure to just walk around and looking at the nameplates outside houses, trying to read the kanji and get their meaning. Seeing a Japanese name often brings out a very vivid picture in me as there is a lot of nature and culture […]
I had decided I would wait with a Christmassy post at least until middle of December, but finding myself unexpectedly in Tenjin, the center of Fukuoka, one day last week – well what can I say, there were simply too many Santas to avoid showing a photo of them. Next to Naka river, in front
Halloween was not over until the Christmas decorations started to pop up in stores and windows. My son was very happy when he saw the first Christmas tree of the season on the counter of a cake shop in the local shopping mall and started to talk about putting up decorations at home as well.
An integral part life in Japan is obento, Japanese lunch boxes (or just bento with the o being there only for politeness). Bento is simply put a proper meal with rice or noodles and fish or meat and vegetables and other Japanese foody necessities, all packaged in a box. Bento lunch boxes are for many
A short little post to celebrate a short little line of poetry found everywhere in Japan. 写真はイメージです。You can find “写真はイメージです。” written on a package of yoghurt, on menus at restaurants, in magazines and on advertisement boards just to name a small selection of places where you can enjoy the simple but beautiful sentence stating something
Japan during summer is hot and humid and sweaty. To say the least. Cool drinks and air conditioning feel essential for being comfortable. It would have been nice with a cool shower every now and then as well, but that is a little more tricky – during summer in Japan the hot water use is close
Nature around here is amazing – even though we live right on the edge between the big city and the wilderness, during summer it feels more like our house is in the middle of nature. When we some time ago, after days spent inside recovering from a summer cold, finally went outside again, my son
Summer in Japan is quite different from summer in Sweden, but there are a few weeks in May June before the humidity arrives that have the emotional quality of Swedish summer when it is the most beautiful. Lately we have enjoyed warm days, a hint of dryness in the air, the evenings and mornings still
みどりの日, or Greenery Day as it is called in English, is a holiday during the Japanese holiday week called Golden Week. GW has four public holidays during a period of a week, and Greenery Day is celebrated on May 4th, although I like to think of the day as the literal translation instead – Green
The new school year has started and for our son that means that he now is in his first year of three where he will wear a kindergarten uniform. Our kindergarten has one formal uniform that the children use when they are going to and from school three days a week, and a sports uniform
Living in Japan and writing a blog about everyday life here, avoiding a cherry blossom post in spring feels like something almost unthinkable. The beautiful trees are sparkling everywhere in pink and white, be it in the city, in parks or in the countryside and on the mountain slopes. Going inside, cherry blossom decorations are
For some people, spring is cherry blossom, sakura, late March pick-nicks in the park under the cherry trees (and accompanying hay fever). For others spring is warmish February days when the plum trees are in bloom, when you can leave your winter jacket at home and enjoy some vitamin-producing sunlight. Tough I love the cherry