Japanese winters are as harsh as they get. Different areas of Japan could get completely covered in snow and it is impossible to stay long outside during this season due to cold winds coming from the North. Staying inside a room without proper utilities could be just as harsh. Let’s see what utilities one needs…

Japanese gardens in spring are always surrounded by so many beautiful flowers that it can sometimes be easy to mistake any pink flowers you happen to spot as the famous cherry blossom (sakura). But this is not always the case, there are certain features that differentiate the cherry, plum, and peach blossoms among all the…

There is, for sure, a set of rules and manners in eating regardless what country a person comes from. Some of these table etiquette rules may be the same in most countries, and some may surprise you because they are the exact opposite. jp.fotolia.com/ It is always advantageous to learn some table manners for a…

Starting out in a new endeavor will always come with its fair share of hardships, challenges, and frustrations. This was no exception for me as I began life in Japan, and started as a first-time English teacher. Osaka is a wonderful city, and I had the privilege to work in Umeda, a huge, booming district…

Working as an AET (specifically, an assistant English teacher) in a Japanese public junior high school was a challenging experience that stretched me, and gave me a broader set of teaching skills and experience. At first, I started out working in a couple junior high schools in Adachi-ku, the ward of Tokyo I first lived…

The nightmares are over! Long gone are the days when people visiting Japan had to enter a Starbucks and order some coffee just to be able to use the Wi-Fi. If you’ve already visited Japan, you’ll be wondering what exactly we are talking about since finding public Wi-Fi did force you to enter a coffee…

The Aozora Bank was originally established in 1957 under a different name, that of The Nippon Fudosan Bank and underwent a few changes up to the present. In 2001, the bank finally changed its name to Aozora Bank, Ltd. and converted from  a “Long-Term Credit Bank” to an “Ordinary Bank” in 2006. The head of the International…

You’re travelling to Japan but you can’t use a roaming feature for your phone. Now, what should you do? One of the must-dos while travelling to Japan is obtaining a pocket Wi-Fi. A pocket Wi-Fi is a must when travelling to and around Japan so you can communicate with your friends online and easily use…

Japan is well-known for having the tidiest public toilets in the world. Somebody might even consider Japanese toilets the best of those they got to use. It is because the manner of keeping the public toilets clean is in Japanese mentality, and this results in the clean toilets available to everyone. Moreover, public toilets in…

If you are like me, a foreigner living in Japan, there will be times when you need to send money from Japan, and it is not always that easy to find out how. Thanks to the more advanced banking technology lately, we now have more (and easier) options to do that, and here is how.…