Flavours made for grown-ups: Japan’s ‘adult’ drinks, candy, and snacks
It’s Coming of Age Day (January 8th), Japan’s yearly celebration of young people reaching adulthood. To mark the day, we’re gonna
Read more
Culture Shock
Culture Shock
Saying goodbye to Swimmer: a final haul
In early June 2017, kawaii zakka chain Swimmer shocked everyone by announcing they’d be closing in January 2018. It wasn’t
Read more
Have a nice claup: Japan’s funniest English-inspired brand names
Every day, we learn new names for things in Japanese. Some of them are… well, we don’t think anyone asked
Read more
Lights, chicken, action: Christmas in Osaka (Japan), 2017
Merry Christmas! Or whatever you celebrate. (Or happy holidays, if you’re not religious. It’s all cool with us.) Christmas in
Read more
Thanks for the weird gadgets: we check out Thanko Rare Mono Shop
Finding Japanese online shops that sell weird stuff is like our hobby. We’re always looking for the strangest inventions and
Read more
Keep calm, and don’t disturb the wa: stress relief in Japan
Japan’s got this image of being… kinda… stressed out. All the time. You’ve heard stories of salarymen working 14-hour days,
Read more
Pay less for the label: second-hand Japanese designer goods online
We’ve been reading up on the fashion resale market. Why were we doing that, and not watching anime, or collecting
Read more
Taste test and brain test: we try Japan’s memory-enhancing gum
Hey, if you don’t remember us talking about this gum when it launched, that’s okay! Lotte’s ‘gum that preserves your
Read more
Scary Saturday: Halloween in Osaka, Japan, 2017
You’ll hear people say Japan has 4 unique seasons. It’s sorta true. Autumn starts September 1st. No ifs, no buts.
Read more
Snacks in the box: Japanese candy and snack ‘tsumeawase’ haul boxes
Every time we wander into the snacks aisle at a Japanese conbini, it’s like going to Narnia. There’s always so
Read more