Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture of Japan, is expecting to have an influx of tourists during the winter season due to its powdery snow and winter festivals. One of the most anticipated annual events happening this December is the opening of the Ice Village, which is located inside the Hoshino Resorts Tomamu, in central Hokkaido. Various…

Here’s a not-so-surprising fact: I hate having to renew my visa. This is a sentiment that resonates with every single foreign resident living in Japan under a visa. The only consolation is that we know that we don’t have to visit this place until we have to renew that visa. Therefore, the worst case scenario…

Unlike western comic books, Japanese manga can target a really specific part of the population according to its genre. In fact, the audience may vary from elementary school kids, teenage girls, teenage boys, young adults to much older and so on. This is one of the great things about manga: anyone can find what they…

Tokyo loves doing things perfectly and cutely, so it’s a great place to find a perfectly cute cup of coffee. Now, the best and trendiest coffee spots in the city sell their products at a reasonable price, they are often crowded with people. If you’re looking for a relaxing coffee shop during your day off,…

Kichijoji – an area west of Tokyo, just next to Suginami-ku, has the reputation of being one of the most popular Tokyo neighbourhoods to live in. It has been topping the charts for years now, either being no.1 or in top 3 and it’s easy to see why. It’s not as pricey or busy as…

If you’ve been reading the news this week, you might have found out reports that Microsoft Japan had conducted an experiment during summer to see the effects a 4-day workweek would have. The rules were simple: employees would work 4 days a week while still getting paid for 5, all while enjoying 3-day weekends. The…

For many years, Japan had been a country that foreign tourists overlooked. This might seem a bit funny at first, considering how influential Japanese cuisine, manga, anime, video games, and technology have been. It was not uncommon to see Western media talk about Japan and the wonders of The Land of the Rising Sun, from…

by Martin Danker On October 1, 2019, Japan’s consumption tax finally increased to 10%. This had been long in the making, and something Japanese residents knew would eventually happen. However, within the first days of the consumption tax increase (which went up from 8% to 10%), retailers and consumers have been failing to adjust, and…

by Martin Danker Dramatic stories about people who complained about the babies they had to sit next to during a long flight are far too common, from this model who was criticized after posting an Instagram Story complaining about a baby , to this passenger who was kicked out of a plane for refusing to…

A boxed original GameCube controller found tucked onto a shelf above eye level in BEEP @ Akihabara. With the recent release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch, original GameCube controllers have become hot commodities. Production of new controllers has stalled, and among the Smash community some consider these new controllers slightly inferior…