In the past few years, I’ve tried to cut down on my news consumption. I only check it every few days or sometimes even once a week, because I realized how the seemingly endless onslaught of despair and violence in the world was affecting my mental health. I have never been more convinced that the world could take a page out of Nagasaki’s book. Nagasaki City is probably most famous around the world for its history in World War II. I grew up hearing about the violence that befell it in the summer of 1945, its name often uttered in the same breath as Hiroshima. According to the Manhattan Engineer ..read more

When I was little, nothing beat sitting at the lunch table, opening my lunch box, and discovering that my mom had packed me a fun treat, be it a blueberry muffin, Hostess cupcake, or fun size pack of M&M’s. Depending on what my friends’ parents had packed them, a trade might be agreed upon. Beyond how delicious the food tasted, I never thought much about what I was eating. Where it came from, the ingredients used to make it, and its nutritional aspects were just some of the many qualities that never crossed my mind. In Japan, however, school lunchtime, or kyūshoku (給食), looks a little diff ..read more

“Make sure to use English as much as you can.” That’s what we were told on our first day of graduate school. What they said made sense. All of us were students who were expected to engage in research over the next two years. Doing well in academics often means publishing your work, and the better the impact, the better for your career. Soon, as I got into my degree, my senior colleagues were often coming to me to check their English articles and look at the English instructions for their studies. My classmates asked me to help them write emails to foreign professors. But it wasn’t until one ni ..read more

Nara city is one of those big name places for tourists in Japan, synonymous with roaming deer that bow for snacks, crowds and ancient temples. While certainly not on the level of Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka for must visit places in Japan, it constantly draws big crowds, most often as a day trip for people staying in nearby Kyoto. That said, few people ever venture outside the prefectural capital and explore the prefecture itself. Strangely, this makes Nara prefecture one of Japan’s best kept secrets even while Nara city continually draws in masses of visitors every day. So what else is there to see ..read more

In the Japanese workplace, looking busy means working hard, and working hard means being a team player. It doesn’t matter whether you are in the office or in a high school in the countryside, looking busy opens the doors for connections and promotions as well as makes for a generally smoother experience. It’s not all bad, though! Team work makes the dream work, right? So, to learn more about the intricate balance of looking busy at work and actually getting work done, read on to dive into the complexities of looking busy at work in Japan. The Illusion of Productivity With so many people bustli ..read more

These camps, which house refugees primarily from Syria and Palestine, have endured increased strain due to limited resources and overcrowding. Moreover, the devastating explosion at the Beirut harbor in 2020 further compounded the country’s woes, resulting in widespread destruction and loss of lives. Amidst these challenges, children in refugee camps bear a heavy burden, often deprived of basic necessities and opportunities for education and development. Here is a video of the conditions in the orphanage we are helping located in Northern Beirut: Chadi Dubois, owner of Discovery Language Scho ..read more

「エッチ？」（Sex?） 「すみません、会ったことがないんですから、ちょっと早くないですか？」(I’m sorry, but we’ve never met, so isn’t it a bit fast?) 「したくない？」(You don’t want to?) 「ちょっと…」(Well…) 「デブ」(Fatty) I first encountered unfamiliar Japanese words like デブ (debu/fatty) when downloading Tinder. Upon receiving such a message, I had never heard of the term before. I was a bit confused, so I showed it to my Japanese friend at the time, who was angered by the insult and explained its meaning to me. Admittedly, such childish insults were actually funny to me, but I soon came to learn that it wasn’t an isolated experience using online dating ..read more

Cute cats wearing samurai headgear, rosy-cheeked bears, giant pears with an affinity for heavy metal… These are just a few examples from the world of Japanese regional characters. Known as yuru-kyara, these whimsical creatures are dreamed up by illustrators in Japan before being voted on to represent their hometown incorporating local goods asuch as food, culture, and places in their designs. What started off as drawings on paper has now become a national phenomenon. Yuru-kyara are a uniquely Japanese way to learn a bit more about prefectures and even specific cities in Japan. But before divin ..read more

The Gotō Rettō (五島列島), or “five island archipelago”, is a chain of five main islands, which are accompanied by many smaller islands as well. These islands lie about 100 kilometers west of Nagasaki prefecture, and are a popular travel destination for locals and tourists in search of beautiful beaches, delicious food, interesting history, and a tranquil atmosphere. You won’t find as many foreigners on these islands as you would on ones closer to bigger cities, but if you’re looking for a local getaway, the Gotō islands are a great option. The Gotō islands are situated in the East China Sea, mean ..read more

In 2023, the Japanese government approved plans for Japan’s first legal casino. This huge complex is currently beginning construction in Osaka on a large reclaimed island in Osaka Bay and will include a shopping mall, hotels and a helicopter pad. The approval of these plans was hugely controversial, particularly within Osaka prefecture with several local political parties making stopping the plans a major factor in their campaigns during local elections.  Gambling mostly remains illegal in Japan, however the plan is moving forward as part of a new 2018 law that provides a loophole that al ..read more