竹の花 — When Bamboo Blooms
Bamboo blooms only once every 100 to 120 years. When it does, the entire grove flowers — and then dies. It's happening in Japan right now.
Wabi Sabi Journal
かき氷 — Shaved Ice and the Sound of Summer
Standing at a festival stall, cicadas going, the air thick with heat, watching someone shave a block of ice into soft, thin layers. That is かき氷. You choose your syrup....
水無月 — The Sweet That Marks the Middle of the Year
My grandmother loved 水無月. I remembered this only when I started writing about it — the specific way she would describe it, the anticipation she brought to the season. She...
バレンタインデー — The Day Girls Make the First Move
Valentine's Day in Japan works differently. On February 14th, it is the women and girls who give chocolate. The response comes one month later. This reversal is so established that...
Tokyo’s Winter Whisper
Sensoji Temple in Asakusa transforms under a delicate blanket of snow, a serene reminder of the ‘Sankan Shion’ dance between winter’s chill and the promise of spring.
立春 — The Day Spring Is Named
Around February 4th, the Japanese calendar marks 立春 — the beginning of spring. Not the arrival of warm weather. The naming of spring. On this day, it is almost certainly...
年越し蕎麦 — The Bowl That Crosses the Year
My clearest memory of New Year's Eve is not the countdown. It is the soba. In Japanese households, a bowl of hot soba noodles in dashi broth is eaten...
大掃除 — The Year-End Deep Cleaning Tradition to Welcome the New Year
Discover Osoji, Japan’s year-end tradition of deep cleaning to cleanse your home and spirit before the new year.
クリスマス — In Japan, Christmas Means KFC
Every December, the Colonel Sanders statue outside KFC locations across Japan gets dressed in a Santa Claus outfit. Japan is not a Christian country. What it has instead is fried...
敬老の日 — Respect for the Aged
Every third Monday of September, Japan observes 敬老の日 — Respect for the Aged Day. Families travel, people visit grandparents, communities gather. Japan has the oldest population in the world. It...
七夕 — The Night the Stars Meet
The strips of paper were always the part I loved most. Thin, brightly colored, one wish written on each. We would hang them from bamboo branches and watch the family's...
八十八夜 — The First Tea of the Year
My grandmother had one rule when making green tea: pour every last drop from the teapot. The concentrated last drops, she explained, were the most flavorful part. I follow this...
The Tasty World of Japanese Mushrooms
If you like shiitake mushrooms, you should try these other Japanese mushrooms!
恵方巻き — The Roll You Eat in Silence
On Setsubun, Japanese families eat 恵方巻き whole, uncut, in silence, while facing a specific direction determined by the zodiac. You must not speak. You must not cut it. You must...
Snow Monkeys — The Monkeys Who Found the Hot Springs
In a valley in Nagano where the ground vents steam year-round, Japanese macaques sit in hot spring pools in winter — shoulders deep in the water, snow falling on...