Everyone loves a good acronym and in February I coined a new one. Admittedly PDDN is not as catchy as ATM, LBD, LOL or any of the other TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) which have so sneakily invaded our everyday speech; no longer being used ironically but as words in their own right – who’s guilty…
Outside of my apartment building sits our soil factory box. It’s half-filled with incredible planting soil—the result of a year and a half of bokashi composting by the two of us. It’s actually quite astonishing to see over a year’s food scraps broken down to such a minimal volume! But the reason that I know…
Welcome to Chapter 2 of ‘The Mochi Diaries’ (餅ã®æ—¥è¨˜) ☆〜（ã‚。∂） Today I shall be introducing the original mochi that began my infatuation many years ago during a trip to Kyoto!! Without further ado I present my holy grail of mocha – the triangular, deviously delicious Nama Yatsuhashi 生八ã¤æ©‹!!!! Nothing screams ‘I’ve just visited Kyoto’ more than bringing…
Yet another break-up and you are doing the post-mortem with your girlfriends over wine, cheesecake and cocktails. You ensured that the ‘mixologist’ is someone heavy on the vodka and light on the conscience. And every time you swear this is the last time… but deep down you know that it won’t be. We all do!!…
清水寺 As you prepare for the advent of spring, our quest for pilgrimage temples takes us further afield. Our next explorations will be into Kyoto, Osaka, and beyond.  There are five pilgrimage temples clustered right in the city of Kyoto, and we’ll get to the other four later on. We shall begin with one of…
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR At the end of February, the earthquake-proofing of the main building of my school began. For the week before the move, the staff room was littered with cardboard boxes and teachers debating just how much of the crap in their desks they needed. Everyone had to take everything out of their…
So why does anyone come to Japan? To be reborn into the manga world? To experience how high tech it is (then realise they still use fax machines)? To dress up in a kimono and call yourself a geisha? None of the above. They come to meet Hello Kitty of course! OK so I’m now…
ARK stands for Animal Rescue Kansai. It is an NPO based in Osaka, but with a Tokyo branch as well. As an animal lover, I was attracted to their work and wanted to contribute to their efforts. Japan isn’t a place known for being overzealous about animal rights and such, so this is one of…
大本山　ä¸å±±å¯º The easternmost of the pilgrimage temples located in Hyogo-ken is Nakayama-dera, number 24 on the official route. Nakayama-dera is located in the city of Takarazuka, and boasts a beautiful ume grove around back, in which about a thousand plum trees will be in bloom from late February through early March. Nakayama-dera’s claim to fame…