The University of Tokyo decided to erect a bronze statue of Mr. Ueno and his pet dog to commemorate 90 years of his death with a reunion statue. The professor’s pet dog Hachiko touched the hearts of Japanese people across the nation due to his devotion of waiting every day in front of Tokyo’s Shibuya
In nature, everything has its place and a reason to exist. It is not chaotic. The human mind treats nature as disorderly and imposes culture in an attempt to bring order. Frightening “forests” are domesticated into “docile” gardens, rivers converted to canals. Ikebana is a cultural construct, popularly and “insufficiently” translated as flower arrangement an
So Olympics is having and impact on Yamanote Line trains. If you have traveled on the local trains in Japan, not only Tokyo, you will have noticed paper ads hanging inside compartments, something which I have always take a lot of interest to read and learn Japanese in my early days of Japan. By autumn test runs
So in a world of choices, to beat competition, companies, individuals try to differentiate. Original ideas get copied by the competition and a cycle of differentiation called as innovation. See Apple, Google, Microsoft …. Now differentiation is sometimes done to shock and awe the customer to try something new and we had an ice-cream experience ourselves at Nakano Broadway
Taco Bell Japan, the subsidiary of the American chain of fast-food restaurants has been having this “We are coming” teaser for quite some time now and today they have announced that the first store will open in Tokyo. Location… SHIBUYA DOGENZAKA!! 渋谷道玄坂!! Opening on April 21, 2015, there will be classic dishes like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but
The Sukiyabashi Traffic Square in Ginza just outside the Sony Building has a cute looking uniquely designed Police Box, Koban. Its been there ever since I came to Japan in 98. Koban, a place where you go asking for traffic directions, yeah I know its much more than that, but mostly traffic directions….. The Koban
UPDATE : The Godzilla Head has now been officially unveiled on April 09, 2015. YOU CAN GO SEE IT ONLY AFTER APRIL 17 THOUGH. ORIGINAL STORY : A few months back we reported on the Hotel Gracery a themed hotel with magnificent view of the Godzilla figure, an awesome 39 feet (12 meters) Godzilla head to
Learning a language goes much beyond vocabulary and involves a deeper insight into the culture and value systems. Japanese learning for me was no different to understand the beliefs and behaviours of regular Japanese and needed a glimpse into their society, their family life and overall upbringing that Japanese kids go through. FUJI TV has
No introduction needed for people conversant to Tokyo on Hachiko, the beloved pet dog of not only his owner Hidesaburo Ueno but the Tokyo city itself. So to keep it short and sweet, Hachiko, an Akita dog, touched the hearts of Japanese people across the nation due to his devotion of waiting every day for
Brown color Yamanote Train?? YEP that is what the JR has put out this year to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Tokyo Station. The train ir decorated beautifully on the exterior with brown color sticker wrappings with the message depicting the 100 year anniversary. The train doors have the 1914 to 2014 written
No more NARUTO, a coworker told me a month back after the Shonen Jump ended the 72 volume run of the popular Ninja character in November of 2014. The anime series is still ongoing and in our visit to the Roppongi Hills last week, we collected this pamphlet of NARUTO art exhibition being organized in
As common citizen of 21st century, the various social events in the global village deeply affect each one of us. Not all are brave enough to go make a change like Kenji Goto who thought to make a difference in Syria by his efforts to aid people living in conflict zones. These are the people who
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 23 : WE FINALLY RECEIVED OUR SUICA CARDS VIA MAIL. A SEVEN MONTH WAIT! UPDATE FEBRUARY 17, 2015 : Over 4.99 million orders for SUICA cards, will take over a year for delivery in phases!!! UPDATE : Jan 30, 2015 : we have booked our two SUICA cards. Order can be maximum 3 cards
First on with defining what an Itasha is. Itasha, a Japanese word refers to otaku-fied cars decorated by fans with decals of mostly anime and video game characters. The Japanese automotive industry is one of the most prominent and largest industries in the world, and events like Tokyo Motor Show attracts not only locals, but many
Olympics is about celebration of human potential through discipline, dedication, perseverance and positive mindset. To quote the history from olympic.org “Olympics aimed to show the physical qualities and evolution of the performances accomplished by young people, as well as encouraging good relations between the cities of Greece.” On the other end of the spectrum is belief