Click on photo or link to read the feature • Seasonal Secret:It’s Fluttering Fish Flag Season! Few sights are more delightful than a school of fish flags fluttering against the spring sky. They only appear in the month before Children’s Day on May 5, so now is the time to seek out the biggest andContinue reading “MAY-JUN 2023”
Category Archives: June
What the heckin’ heck is THIS?
The Japanese are the masters of the kind of weird inventions that make you burst out laughing…then you realize you need one. I love discovering these things, and I hope you’ll enjoy guessing what they’re used for too! Every month I’ll post a photo of something that I didn’t have any idea what it wasContinue reading “What the heckin’ heck is THIS?”
Did you win the Mar-Apr Book Giveaway?
If you recognize your email, congratulations! You just won a copy of Dead-End Memories by Banana Yoshimoto! 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 where you’d like me to send it. (I’ll need an email address for the ebook or a mailingContinue reading “Did you win the Mar-Apr Book Giveaway?”
Time travel to a samurai village, check out Westminster Abbey, then swoon over the most opulent golden shrine in Japan
Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture Nikko not only hosts my favorite must-see World Heritage Site in all of Japan, it’s home to two eye-popping theme parks—one that lets you wander around an authentically recreated samurai village dressed as the period character of your choice, and another that seems like it would be the acme of camp,Continue reading “Time travel to a samurai village, check out Westminster Abbey, then swoon over the most opulent golden shrine in Japan”
Japanese Chicken Sliders with a Tasty Trio of Toppings
These juicy chicken sliders with a hint of ginger can be topped with any combination of the toppings, depending on whether you’re in the mood for spicy, savory, creamy or tangy. There’s something for everyone, and the small size means you don’t have to decide which is your favorite until you’ve tried them all! •Continue reading “Japanese Chicken Sliders with a Tasty Trio of Toppings”
Look up! It’s koi nobori season!
In Japan ’tis the season to look to the sky for swimming fish! May 5th is the holiday formerly known as Boys’ Day, but now the charming flags called koi nobori fly for girls too. On Children’s Day, any child can be the carp that climbs the waterfall to become a dragon. In the monthContinue reading “Look up! It’s koi nobori season!”
Seven reasons not to fall in love with that $25,000 Japanese farmhouse
The New York Times is only the latest media outlet to jump on the “you can buy a fabulous farmhouse in Japan for cheap” bandwagon, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. To sum up this latest piece of clickbait, Japan’s famously shrinking population has left millions of vintage farmhouses sitting empty and unwanted,Continue reading “Seven reasons not to fall in love with that $25,000 Japanese farmhouse”
Japan Swag Giveaway
This set of threeSee-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil cats! In honor of our visit to the famous trio of monkeys at the Nikkō Toshogu Shrine this month, I’m giving away this limited edition set of three cats who will out-cute those monkeys in a heartbeat! On the last day of June, I’ll randomly pick one lucky JapanagramContinue reading “Japan Swag Giveaway”
Did you win the Mar-Apr book giveaway?
If you recognize your email, congratulations! You just won a copy of All I asking for is my body by Milton Murayama If you think this is you, shoot a message to JapanagramJonelle@gmail.com and give me a mailing address you’d like it sent to (this one is only available in paperback) and I’ll get it to youContinue reading “Did you win the Mar-Apr book giveaway?”
A sea of purple, delighting the populace for hundreds of years
Famous iris gardens near Tokyo In the West, it’s rare to see more than a couple of delicate butterfly-like Japanese iris artfully ringing a pond at the local botanical garden, but in Japan, they grow whole fields stuffed with every variety and color combination imaginable, to create a sea of graceful nodding purple, as farContinue reading “A sea of purple, delighting the populace for hundreds of years”
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