Ever since I moved to Gunma, I've wanted to visit the caldera of Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane. Unfortunately, I'm doomed to disappointment as the volcanic activity levels have been too high to safely allow visitors for the past 3 years. Despite this, it's still well worth the effort to make the drive up the mountain. The twisty-turny... Continue Reading →
Most cities have some sort of nickname or slogan. Not many claim to be the "belly button" of a country. The closest big(ish) city to my tiny town is about 30 min down the mountains, Shibukawa. Shibukawa is known for a lot of things - some famous onsen, a really weird spaceship bath, Initial D,... Continue Reading →
This article was published in the April 2020 issue of AJET's CONNECT magazine. You can read it, and many other issues, at CONNECT Issuu Mukaiya Minoru is a name you’ve probably never heard, but you’ve absolutely listened to his works. Multiple times. Possibly even every day. Maybe you even know some of his tunes so well,... Continue Reading →
So, I'm sure some of you may have heard, but there's a little thing called coronavirus making it's way around Japan right now. *cough cough* maybe because the Diamond Princess quarantine was horribly bungled *cough* Anyway, I say "epidemic" with a health dose of sarcasm, because the situation is not really as bad as everyone... Continue Reading →
So I was driving with my fiancé the other day and imparted this fun fact upon him: Japanese traffic lights are not green. They're blue. Of course this was said literally as we were driving under a traffic light, so he looked up and pointed out that it was pretty obviously green light. Nah man.... Continue Reading →
In 2018, the Japan Foundation conducted their "Survey Report on Japanese-Language Education Abroad" and found 633 Japanese language teachers and 11,764 language learners Japanese in Russia(1). But unlike in the United States, where studying Japanese became popular due to interest in business trading or pop culture, Japanese education has been going on in Russia for... Continue Reading →
When you think of Japan, nishikigoi or colored carp, are probably one of the first things you think of. What you might not think of, is one of these koi being older than the United States of America. But Hanako was a very special fish. Dr. Komei Koshihara inherited a fish that had been passed... Continue Reading →
One hotel. 1300 years of history. And it's still open for business Photo from SoraNews24 The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan was opened in 705 A.D. To put it into perspective, this hotel was open before England was even a thing. And for only a few hundred bucks a night, you could stay at the same hotel... Continue Reading →
Linka Learns Things 