If you’re looking for a beautiful and challenging hike this summer, take a trip to Kyoto’s Kami Daigo-ji, which is temple number 11 of our 33 temple pilgrimage. Daigo-ji temple grounds is expansive, one of the largest temple complexes in Kyoto; it has three separate sections (each with its own admission): Sanbonin (former…
What is Bento? A traditional bento is a complete Japanese meal, with all the side dishes, packed lovingly into a small portable box. A bento lunch should fill the box completely, so that the carefully arranged food doesn’t shift during transport, and it should look immensely appealing, so that even the pickiest of eaters will…
A confluence of international, bilateral, and domestic conditions has made Japan’s chances with the Trans-Pacific Partnership better than widely thought. On April 23rd, US President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. The first state visit by a sitting US president since Bill Clinton in 1996,Obama’s trip to Japan was meant…
ゴーーールーーー !!!!!! Can you feel it? There is something special about to happen. There is electricity in the air, a growing rumble underfoot, a quickening of your heartbeat – and the cause is not the new Godzilla movie. In fact, it is the sporting event that puts all other sporting events to shame. It…
My favourite rainy day activity is cooking. When it rains I always crave a hearty meal, whether it’s in cold, drizzly England or humid, wet Japan. This is a rapid, one-pot dish with an element of cheating – the curry blocks here are just too easy to pass up! I’ve added a few flavours…
 This month former Hyogo Times editor, Australian born, Matthew Stott took the time to answer a few questions about his life since leaving Hyogo. Matt was based in Tarumi 2007 – 2010 when he worked at Akashi and Takatsuka Senio High Schools. 1)   What did you do immediately after leaving JET? My…
What’s on your JET Life Bucket list? I was sitting in my apartment with the windows open (finally), listening to a fantastic album called “Dance, Dance†and contemplating what to write about. As a lot of us enter the final two-ish months of our time on JET, I’d love to know what’s on…
Long before I stepped foot on the shores of Japan I had an ongoing fascination with the sweet boozy nectar that is umeshu梅酒, a traditional Japanese spirit of which the primary ingredient is green ume é’梅. All too often mistranslated as ‘plum wine’, both these words are more or less lost in translation. Ume are in…
While March’s wage hike by Japan came as a bright spot amidst growing concern over Abenomics, will April’s 3 percentage point tax hike rain on Abe’s parade? Since sweeping back into office in December 2012’s Lower House election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pursued an aggressive plan—dubbed Abenomics—to create a “virtuous economic cycle†of increased…