My So-Called Japanese Life

Flourless dark chocolate mini cake. Today was Valentine's Day in Japan since we get there first. (We're a day ahead of the U.S.) Las...

Lifted from the site which sells them . Candy for those who hate Valentines Day. Lately, I've been seeing various ads and articles leadi...

Two young women chat in the station in their kimono on adulthood day. Each culture has its ages where milestones are reached. In the U.S., t...

Men gamely pound rice into mochi inside a wooden barrel. Pounding rice into mochi takes an immense amount of strength, stamina and patienc...

A mother and daughter amuse themselves while waiting in line to gain access to a shrine by playing a pattycake game. On one of the boards I ...

A New Year's decoration ( kadomatsu ) hanging on a resident's door. Note: Last year I did an extensive series of posts with picture...

The Christmas sign hanging in a shopping street in our neighborhood. Last year, I wrote that it's all pretty much over in Japan by the ...

This is a full-size cheesecake and cost ¥1,890 ($16.57). Though you can't tell from the picture, it is quite small. It's about 2 inc...

Bart Simpson once said that "“Christmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ.” So...

For many people who work as teachers, gift-giving in Japan is largely a one-way street. The students give and the teacher receives. The bigg...

The phrase "it's the thought that counts" is often used when people open a gift that was probably inexpensive or homemade. Som...

Living in Japan sometimes wrecks havoc with your conception of time in regards to special days for family back home. In the event that you r...

The Japanese on this bag says the same thing as the English, "little Santa" (ri-to-ru sa-n-ta). Last year, I picked up a "Ch...