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…
 This month we meet Scott Dixon from the USA who resided in Sasayama 2007 – 2010. What did you do immediately after leaving JET? Panicked. Then, after applying for just about every job possible, I stupidly booked a one-way ticket to New York and hoped for the best. Luckily, I landed a…
Homesickness can be tough, recreating foody home comforts is my cure. A sure fire way to brighten up my day is through pie, a generous serving of cottage pie to take me back to Britain. All the ingredients are easy to get hold of (without a treacherous trip to Kaldi!). Serves 1-2 (depending…
 The Seto Inland Sea (瀬戸内海), surrounded by Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, is a veritable treasure trove of adventure. You can take the longest suspension bridge in the world, Akashi-KaikyÅ, to Awaji Island to feast on onions. From Awaji, or Shikoku’s Tokushima prefecture, there are the turbulent Naruto whirlpools where Japan’s fastest currents make one…
It’s time to pull out the old iPod, blow the dust off the touch screen, and plug in those headphones for a walk down memory lane. This month’s album anniversaries will take you back to a time when CD players were still the dominant medium for listening to music on the go and rather than…
 Japanese Whaling Not “for purposes of†Scientific Research  On 31 March 2014 the International Court of Justice handed down its long-awaited decision in Australia v Japan, concerning the legality of whaling in the Antarctic Ocean. While the decision in Australia’s favour effectively prevents Japan’s continued whaling hunt in the Antarctic under its current…
On a sunny Sunday in spring, a dozen book clubbers assembled under (one of) Rough Rare’s retro roofs. With the Ball Room and Royal Room both occupied by newlyweds, the centre of the Supper Room (2F) became our discussion space for a couple hours. The classic 1980s sci-fi story, Ender’s Game was the…
Dear Ms Hart,  The people in the apartment next to me have a television. A loud television. A loud television that they seem to watch only late at night. Unfortunately this television resides in the room that shares a wall with my bedroom. I first noticed it in October when I originally thought my neighbors were…
The Takarazuka Revue is a whirlwind show; blink once and you’ve probably missed a costume change or two. The town of Takarazuka is famous for two reasons: it was the home of a famous manga artist and it plays host to the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female company that performs plays, musicals, and dazzling dance numbers….