One of the highlights of living in Japan is the variety of festivals and other special occasions that are celebrated throughout the year. Whether it’s a crisp spring day or a cold winter afternoon, you can reliably find crowds of people flocking to a local shrine. One of the most celebrated festivals in Tanabata, a…

As summer in Japan approaches, everyone’s looking to refresh themselves in any way possible. If you’re up for something cool and new, you might want to bring down the heat with Calpis (カルピス) and Afternoon Tea’s (アフタヌーンティー) cool summer collaboration! What is Calpis? Calpis is a largely popular Japanese milk-based beverage. It is one of…

Tokyo Tower (東京タワー) is no doubt one of the many popular places to visit when in Tokyo (東京). It may not be as tall as Tokyo SkyTree (スカイツリー), but it still serves as one of the main structures to represent Japan’s capital city. Not only does Tokyo Tower light up, but it also changes colors…

July typically marks the end of the rainy season and the official entry into the sweltering summer season. In the old calendar (kyuureki), July is known as fumizuki or fuzuki which can be written using the same kanji characters i.e. 文月. As to how this name came about, this is said to be related to…

Quite a number of people in Japan often tend to stay single before they think of tying the knot for a number of reasons. Some may think of becoming stable first, giving back to their parents, or even just to doing the things they want to do in life before settling down. But that doesn’t…

Origami has been assimilated in the Oxford dictionary since time immemorial, and it has also become a global buzzword. It is defined as the Japanese art of folding papers into various shapes and sizes. However, the elegance of origami goes further that being a mere ornament for the Tanabata Festival. Today, many modern structural designs…

Japan has numerous festivals celebrating their rich culture, one of which is Tanabata Festival or Star Festival. Japan has no particular date for this festival although it usually starts from July 7th until the end of August depending on the area all across Japan. View this post on Instagram A post shared by YOUR JAPAN…