One day in Tokyo, I was at a lunch made by the women in this crazy Japanese women’s club I belong to, where each member had made one dish to contribute (and they all looked like they had been made by professional chefs and styled by photo stylists aieeee!) When I tasted the eggplant dish,Continue reading “Spicy Japanese Eggplant”
Category Archives: February
The Tattoo Murder Case
By Akimitsu Takagi Setting & details: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Authenticity of Japanese characters & dialogue: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Translation quality: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Entertainment value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐My recommendation: A real page-turner of a police procedural that also gives a glimpse into the postwar demimonde of the tattooed Why would someone kill a beautiful tattooed woman, and steal her inked torso? That puzzle is just theContinue reading “The Tattoo Murder Case”
Let’s visit the perfect garden for how we’re feeling right now
Kairaku-en Plum Garden in Mito prefecture Like cherry blossoms, which are beloved because their brief but glorious life is the perfect metaphor for our own lives, plum blossoms have a special meaning too. They bravely bloom when there’s still a chance of snow, when nothing else in the world is blooming or green, and nothingContinue reading “Let’s visit the perfect garden for how we’re feeling right now”
If you thought quilts were a Western art, think again!
The Tokyo International Quilt Festival You know how Japan embraces stuff from all over the world, and then turns it uniquely Japanese? Every year at the end of January, Tokyo hosts one of the most magnificent displays of quilting in the world—the Tokyo International Quilt Festival.* Japanese artists come from a long tradition of meticulousContinue reading “If you thought quilts were a Western art, think again!”
Pre-battered suitcases and other weird travel necessities
Japanese fears, explained by travel products I used to laugh at the sheer array of disinfectant travel wipes for sale at Tokyu Hands (for planes! for trains! for public bathrooms!) but in this day and age, those aren’t so funny anymore. But there are a few Japanese travel aids whose entertainment value never grows old…Continue reading “Pre-battered suitcases and other weird travel necessities”
Did you win the Nov-Dec book giveaway?
If you recognize your email, congratulations! You just won a copy of All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe! If you think this is you, shoot a message to JapanagramJonelle@gmail.com and tell me if you’d like an ebook or paperback (and if paperback, let me know a mailing address you’d like it sent to) and I’ll getContinue reading “Did you win the Nov-Dec book giveaway?”
FEBRUARY 2021
Click on photo or link to read the feature Beyond Tokyo: 40,000 dolls dressed in Imperial court robes? Yes, please! Every year, the town of Katsuura puts on a Girls’ Day Doll Festival to end all doll festivals. Nearly 40,000 magnificently attired hina-samasuddenly appear all over town, in displays that are truly jaw-dropping…read more • SeasonalContinue reading “FEBRUARY 2021”
Be careful what you hang on your wall
…because it might turn out to be something you’d rather not explain to dinner guests! Let’s say you’re browsing around a flea market in Japan, and you discover this jolly woodblock print of five samurai-era men having a little chin-wag. Naturally, because it’s a flea market, you snag it at a bargain price! What aContinue reading “Be careful what you hang on your wall”
Did you win the January book giveaway?
If you recognize your email, congratulations! You just won a copy of Natsuo Kirino’s OUT! If you think this is you, shoot a message to JapanagramJonelle@gmail.com and tell me if you’d like an ebook or paperback (and if paperback, let me know a mailing address you’d like it sent to) and I’ll get it to you soonest. IfContinue reading “Did you win the January book giveaway?”
The fabulous flower season that happens when nothing else is blooming
February in Japan is not fun. Cold and gray, its only festival involves demons, dry beans and smelly sardines. There would pretty much be nothing to look forward to, if it weren’t for the… Plum blossoms! And although their blooming doesn’t promise no more snow, plum trees bloom while every other flower and leaf isContinue reading “The fabulous flower season that happens when nothing else is blooming”
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