Photo by Author If you have been to Japan, you might have seen Gachapon.  It is also known as gacha, gashapon, or gachagacha.  Gacha is a name trademarked by Takara Tomy A.R.T., while Gachapon/gashapon are names trademarked by Bandai.  The general name for this is capsule toy – not very exciting!  Whatever the names are, they refer to vending machines dispensing capsule toys. It was originally invented (発明する hatsumeisuru) in the US as a gumball machine. There are so many kinds, and you choose what you want, insert (投入するtonyusuru) coins, and turn a knob.  You do not k ..read more

In the post-COVID-19 time, you may have a chance to go to Japan, and you need to find a place to live. If you are an expatriate (駐在員 chuuzaiin), your company can hopefully handle all these headaches (頭痛 zutsuu) of finding a home and dealing with the Japanese real estate (不動産 fudousan) practice. If you are a Study Abroad student, your hosting university hopefully has dorms (寮  ryou).  If you are neither a student nor an expatriate, you need to find a place of your own. The most common way is to visit a neighborhood real estate office where you would like to live. Unlike the US, the cl ..read more

What do you think many international visitors are most surprised and impressed with when visiting Japan? Combini (convenience stores). You guessed it. It has been well-known, but the Tokyo Olympics put the Japanese combini in the major international media. Another thing –  maybe vending machines (自動販売機 jidouhanbaiki). They are everywhere. I mean, everywhere. René VlakによるPixabayからの画像 In 2020, there were over 4 million vending machines in Japan, which was a 2.4% decline from 2019, according to Ryutsu News. The revenue (売り上げuriage) that the vending machines generated in 2020 amounted ..read more

What is the biggest event in February (二月 nigatsu)?  Setsubun (節分), which falls on February 3?  For the entire nation, it may be.  Setsubun means to divide seasons (季節 kisetsu), dividing the winter and the spring (2/4). On Setsubun, people throw roasted soybeans at Oni, a demon (鬼), shouting ” Out with the demons. In with good fortune.” It is the tradition. But I have to say what could be more popular is Valentine’s Day due to the size of the market. takedahrsによるPixabayからの画像 The Japanese Valentine’s Day was started and popularized by confectionary companies promoting their cho ..read more

Belated happy new year! This is a year of the Tiger. Tiger in Japanese is written as 虎（tora）but for Zodiac, it is written as 寅. I have learned that there are many versions of animal zodiacs (十二支  Junishi) in the world with some differences in animals. We adopted (導入する dounyusuru) Zodiac from China. But there is one difference. While the Chinese have a year of the Pig (豚 buta), we have a year of the Boar (猪 inoshishi). woodpeace1によるPixabayからの画像 It is important to point out – many Japanese mix up Eto (干支 eto) and Junishi. I am one of them. When we refer to 2022, for instance, we say this ..read more

I know I should write something about New Year in Japan. But I wrote about 年賀状, 除夜の鐘 ,福袋andお節  present and past last year. So I am going to focus on Christmas in Japan. https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/new-years-cards-年賀状/ https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-1/ https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/a-month-even-a-priest-must-run-part-２/ For a non-Christian country, Christmas is a huge event even though it is not a holiday (祭日saijitsu) in Japan. Shopping streets are decorated with illuminations starting at the beginning of November. The Christ ..read more

Here is part 2 of job hunting Japanese style (see Part 1). So what happens if you did not get a job before you graduate from college? Here are two options. You graduate from college and continue to look for a job = 就職浪人(shushoku ronin). 浪人 (ronin) is a wandering samurai without a lord. So 就職浪人 is a wanderer without a job. You stay in college and continue to hunt for a job as a college student = 就職留年 (shushoku ryunen). 留年(ryunen) means to repeat a year at school. Here is a TV commercial that was criticized (批判するhihansuru) as too realistic (現実的 genjitsuteki) for those struggling in the job h ..read more

This time, I will write how Japanese university students get a job – the system of 就職活動 (shushoku katsudo).  It is abbreviated as 就活 (shukatsu). As this is a complicated yet interesting system, I will make this in 2 parts. Image by Niek Verlaan from Pixabay First of all, most of Japanese college students start college in April and graduate four years later in March. This tradition (伝統 dento) stemmed from the Japanese fiscal year (会計年度  kaikei nendo) that starts in April and ends in March. This has been one of the major obstacles (障害  shougai) for Japanese students who want to ..read more

A door (ドア doa).  It can open or close, and it can show things and it can hide things. It does so many things and it affects so many things in our lives.  I wrote about the refrigerator in my first blog.  It is hard for a Japanese student who stays at a US host family to open the door of the fridge even if s/he was told to “help yourself.” Image by shannonrphillips from Pixabay Another cultural difference concerning a door is a ＊bathroom (トイレ toire).  In the US, you keep the bathroom door open at home when nobody is using it.  Meanwhile, in Japan, you always keep the ..read more

A ..read more