 Japan is a country of many wonders, delights, sights and experiences. Unfortunately, those experiences are occasionally negative, even terrifying. We are talking about natural disasters. Few other countries in the world experience the sheer number and variety of natural disasters that Japan does, from floods and typhoons to earthquakes and volcanoes: they have it…
Every year between July and August is Japan’s music festival season. One of the crown jewels of this time is the two day Osaka and Tokyo music event Summer Sonic. This year, your author attempted this perilous quest in her first ever Japanese music festival experience and what a way to enter the scene it…
Hello my doves! Congratulations: You’ve survived you first month! It only gets easier and colder from here (small mercies). If you’ve read earlier issues, you’d know that my name is Rackle and I am one of your Hyogo AJET members as well as an all-around rambunctious cannonball of affection and defender of those who…
Finally the holidays are here! Classes are drawing to a close, you have more free time than you can wave a stick at and the humidity has finally reached a level where you begin to wonder if jumping into the school pool would actually make any difference. It also means it’s summer festival season, so…
Saturday the 23rd of May marked this year’s annual Biwa boat cruise and what a delight it was. We set sail at dusk in the balmy evening aboard the Michigan paddle steamer on Lake Biwa. Truly picturesque. First a group-picture at the port that your author only just managed to arrive in time for…
 On Saturday the 18th of April, thirty or so intrepid travelers and a handful of tenacious volunteers attempted to complete the first ever AJET Block 6 Car Rally. Months of careful planning and organization accumulated in one mammoth adventure all over Hyogo Prefecture. Dear reader let it be known that your author is not,…
 Every year thousands of foreign and local tourists alike flock to Sapporo, Hokkaido in early February for the famed Yuki Matsuri and boy are they in for a treat. Beginning in 1950 the festival has fast become one of Sapporo’s main attractions along with its world class ski slopes, the famed Ramen Alley, brilliant…
In case you’ve been living under a rock these past few weeks you will be well aware that theseason to be jolly is here. In addition it has left every bare inch of unattended retail space drenched in tinsel and baubles while a variety of Christmas jingles waft overhead with their own unique Japanese…
– A Beginners Guide to Classroom Management  So it’s been a few months now and everybody seems to have fallen into a nice routine and the mystery and excitement of your arrival have finally worn off. Both for you and your students. No longer do they stare at you in silent wonder but instead…