Holiday

Happy New Year! To celebrate, how about a list of complaints that you can expect from living in Tokyo? A little too true: “My wallet is full of pointcards instead of cash.” The video is of Japan’s complaint choir. These choirs are part of a sort of global project to turn all the energy spent by people...
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I missed hanami (花見) where everyone goes to watch the beautiful sakura blossoms, but momijigari (紅葉狩) is just starting! Momijigari is like hanami, everywhere there are advertisements for viewing trips, and they even forecast the best time to go see leaves change during the weather report. There are many places online that monitor each of...
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It is only a few days after Halloween, and already the stores at Ikebukuro are putting up Christmas decorations. The pumpkins and costumes that had been selling since September are gone as quickly as they came.
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It’s that time of year… In fall, many Japanese universities have festivals, or sai (祭) that are like town carnivals. At bigger ones, like at my university Waseda the festivals are like concerts, and have many entertainers and bands come to perform. There are street vendors selling food and little souvenirs, as well as student...
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There was too much fuss this year over Halloween in Tokyo! Even though Japan has a long history of fairly scary things, the commercial American style Halloween has become more popular over the years. That has its good points and its bad points. There is of course the Infamous Yamanote Halloween Train, which in previous...
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