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…
Greetings! Now don’t hate me, but I have been craving the arrival of the rains for some weeks now. I know, I know, spring is a delightful time of year in Japan and I should savour it while it lasts, but I just can’t. I think it’s partly that the season starts so gloriously…
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…
 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…