Japan
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Sansa Odori – The World’s Biggest Taiko Drumming Festival in Morioka, Japan
If you are in Japan in August, one of those places you must go to is Morioka. “What is so special about this place”, I hear you ask. “What can this small-to-medium-sized city a couple of hours north of Tokyo offer that other places in Japan can’t”? The answer to that is simple: Sansa Odori…
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Motsuji Temple and Kanjiziao-in, Hiraizumi – a Pure Land temple and noble pleasure garden
Located slightly north of Ichinoseki （一関), Hiraizumi is a small, unassuming town. Mostly consisting of houses and small businesses, you might easily overlook this town in the Tohoku region of Japan. However, if you did, you would be missing out on a lot. That is because it is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Historic…
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Matsumoto Castle Grand Taiko Festival – Japanese Drumming
Picture this: you are studying Japanese intensively at a language school in Japan. It is the end of July and you have a couple of weeks off. What do you do? Where do you go? Well one possibility is the Matsumoto Castle Grand Taiko Festival. The best part (apart from the drumming) – it is…
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Visiting Matsumoto Castle (松本城), Japan
Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto, Japan, is one of the most impressive castles in Japan. If you search for Japanese castles, you will likely find images of Matsumoto Castle (along with places like Osaka Castle) and you can find it in many lists of the top castles to visit in Japan. It is easy to see…
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Garlic Onion Chicken – another amazing Just One Cookbook recipe
Has anyone moved house recently? I did (and why there haven’t been many posts recently)! If you have moved, you know how it goes. Packing boxes, hiring a moving company, moving everything to your new place, unpacking, realising some things don’t fit in your new place, etc. There are a thousand things to do and…
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Tofuku-Ji Temple and Tsuten-Kyo Bridge, Kyoto, Japan
After visiting Fushimi Inari and Mt. Inari, the next stop on my trip to Kyoto was Tofuku-ji Temple (東福寺) and Tsuten-Kyo Bridge. Tofuku-Ji is one of the “Five Great Zen Temples in Kyoto” and it is easy to see why. Combined with its garden, which contains the Tsuten-Kyo (covered) bridge, it is easy to see…
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Otter Café in Fukuoka – Kotsumate Fukuoka Daimyo
UPDATE: Kotsumate Fukuoka Daimyo has closed its doors. After my first experience at an animal café (Owl Café Tenjin), I was interested in visiting another animal café. After having a look around, I was able to find Kotsumate Fukuoka Daimyo, an otter café in Fukuoka’s Daimyo area (next to Tenjin). Not only do they have…
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Hydrangea Festival at Takatôyama Park (Kitakyushu, Japan)
If you know anything about the Japanese, it is that they love their monoculture gardens. Many Japanese people also know when different flowering plants are in full bloom. Plum blossoms early in the year, cherry blossoms in April, Wisteria in mid-May, Peonies in late May/early June, etc. So what about mid-June? In mid-June the hydrangeas…
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Owl Café Tenjin – Fukuoka, Japan
Japan is famous for many things: anime, kawaii culture, samurai, ninjas, temples, tea, etc. Another concept that Japan popularised (but did not create) is animal cafés (Taiwan opened the first cat café in 1988). Today there are many animal cafés across Japan, such as the Owl Café Tenjin in downtown Fukuoka. At first, I was…
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Oshi Sushi (押し寿司) – Making sushi in a box
Before coming to Japan, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about sushi. I had eaten sushi in “Japanese” restaurants (Chinese people, not Japanese people, run most of the ones in western countries). I had eaten “sushi rolls” (makizushi, 巻き寿司) and “sashimi” (nigirizushi, 握り寿司) but I couldn’t really tell you what was typical. You couldn’t expect me to…
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Toji Temple, Kyoto – The Temple for the Defence of the Nation by Means of the King of Doctrines
I recently posted about Fushimi Inari and Mt. Inari, Kyoto – The path of 1000 gates, which I visited during my trip to Kyoto. However, it was not the first place I went to in Kyoto. After getting off the Shinkansen (bullet train) at Kyoto station, I split up with my host family and went…
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How to make Japanese Rice – a guide by Just One Cookbook
So you are facing a problem: you either bought or someone gave you Japanese rice and now you need to cook it. How is it different from other types of rice? Do you need more or less water? How thirsty is it? Do you need to wash it? In short – what are all the…
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Making authentic Japanese food – even if you don’t have all the ingredients
When I travel, I want the local experience: visiting local sites, seeing and doing local things, and eating local food. This is especially true when I move to a new country. I want to not only eat the local food, I also want to learn to make that food. Now that I live in Japan,…
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Fukuoka Botanical Garden – Roses Galore
While May may be the month best known for Peonies in Japan, we mustn’t forget the roses that are also out in bloom at this time. One of the best places to see roses in their full glory is the Fukuoka City Zoo and Botanical Garden, located in the heart of Fukuoka. The Fukuoka Botanical…
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Sumiso (酢味噌) and Sanshosumiso (山椒酢味噌) – A sauce to spice up any meat, vegetable or seafood dish
If you are looking for a new sauce to put with your vegetable, meat or seafood dishes, I am happy to announce that your search is over. I would like to introduce you to something that was introduced to me by my host family in Japan: sumiso/sanshosumiso. Sumiso is a simple sauce that is made…
