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Category: Daily Life
Sampuru: The Art of Japanese Food Replicas
If you’ve ever been to Japan, you may have seen restaurant windows displaying realistic food offerings in order to entice diners. This practice of displaying food samples, what the Japanese call “sampuru” , was first recorded in 1917. They were made from wax by a model maker named Soujiro Nishio . Since restaurants didn’t often… Read more
Life full of flowers in Japan and my life with flowers
It’s been 9 months since we arrived in Japan, many things we have noticed around us. One of them is that the Japanese love flowers and every corner there are different types of flowers of the season. I wrote a comment for “ cosmos ” when we first arrived in Japan. I really like to… Read more
Month Of June In Japan
June is the beginning of summer in Japan, as well as the rainy season, which usually starts from mid-June (sometimes early in the month) to early July throughout the country. This month is traditionally known as ” minazuki ” or ” the month of water “. The temperature is moderate, but the humidity level is… Read more
“Mottainai” – The Concept of No Waste in Japan
Mottainai (もったいないor勿体無い) is one of those unique Japanese words that are not easy to find in other languages. Although in Spanish you could translate it as “what a waste!” or something like that, the word “mottainai” expresses its deep connection with Japanese culture. Many say that the idea of “Mottainai” or the “virtue of not… Read more
The Death Penalty in Japan
As you know, the issue of the death penalty is highly discussed worldwide. There are many countries that throughout their history had capital punishment as part of their judicial system. Little by little some countries have been leaving it behind, however there are some, as is the case of Japan, that still have this penalty… Read more
Yoshiaki Shiraishi – Inventor of “Kaitenzushi”
It took 10 years for Yoshiaki Shiraishi to develop the rotating sushi machine, better known in Japan as “Kaitenzushi”. However, an extra that its inventor was looking for was for everyone to eat delicious and cheap sushi since a typical sushi restaurant costs at least 5,000 yen (40 USD) on average per customer. He thought… Read more
The Smallest Castle in the World created in Japan
A 0.217mm model of Fukuyama Castle has been created by a precision metal parts manufacturer in that city in western Japan to be as small as the thickness of a strand of hair and with the same exterior design as its original. In Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Castem Co. created a 1/170,000 scale miniature model of… Read more
Kakeibo – The Japanese Art of Saving Money
Modern payment technologies, such as debit cards and one-click payments, have made the physical act of spending money easy, sometimes so easy that it becomes dangerous because, while modern technology is convenient, it can also lead to pointless spending, making it difficult to save. In Japan there is a kind of “tradition” of using a… Read more
Calpis – The Summer Drink in Japan
In case you have never heard of Calpis, pronounced Karupisu in Japan, this is a milk-based drink that is highly appreciated in Japan. In other countries, it is marketed as Calpico , given that in English-speaking countries it would be translated as “cow urine”. However, Calpis and Calpico taste exactly the same . This drink… Read more
Japan, a cold country to live
I haven’t lived in Japan continuously for 44 years, I discovered something this winter. When I was single, fortunately I didn’t have to cook food at home, my mother didn’t ask me to work so hard even in winter. For the first time in my life, my fingers got “simoyake” which means “frostbite”. After several… Read more