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...
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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...
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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...
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So, just as I have gotten settled in, Fall is here. The temperature is dropping and the women here are already getting out their fur mufflers. On top of it all, you never know when its going to rain. I have a feeling I’m going to be living in  boots for the next couple...
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I should be sleeping. But just as I turned off the lights the wind began to howl outside of my window and I could hear the laundry scraping at the glass , fluttering in the wind and somehow making the noise that crows make somewhere in the back of their large dry throats. every...
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