Parasols are a standard Japanese summer item for women but I was scratching my head when I saw men using them this summer. Was it the heat? Was it something […]
Buddhism - Cool Japan
Tanabata and Obon
Many festivals are canceled this year because of COVID but you can still go to a local shrine or temple and tie your Tanabata wish to the bamboo. It’s always […]
Cool Japan
The Toilet Tech Gap
Ken Bolido recently bought a Washlet for his employer Austin Evans. The Twitter video of the unveiling unlidding is funny but got me thinking: what’s the toilet tech gap at […]
Culture Wars
Disappearing Japan served on pizza toast
Alan Booth’s The Roads to Sata created a modern English language book genre: Disappearing Japan, an endangered species that has been disappearing for decades, aka “the real Japan.” Whatever that […]
Japan Journal
Train Manner Posters
Train station posters promoting safety and good manners are a stock item in Japan and are all about promoting safe transit. No drunk naked Halloween partying Aussies on the Yamanote […]
Apple - Apple Pay + Wallet - Mobile Payments - NFC - NFC tags
NFC Tag Apple Pay and Japanese Softcream
Summer is here and the increasing number of Apple Pay Suica inbound tweets are fun to read as always. I saw inbound in action recently at a local station NewDays, […]