Category Archives: Food

On Being Vegetarian in Japan

Posted on September 7, 2011 by

Most Japanese people don’t think twice about eating living animals. Or more accurately, they think, think again, then go ahead and eat them anyway. The savagery of dining starts small, with bars where you catch eels from a pool to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture Shock, Food, Uncategorized, Weird | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

On Being the Fattest

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

Not every kid in Japan cares about learning English, and so they use class time to work toward other life goals: Homework from other classes, arm wrestling contests or listening to their talking dictionaries pronounce various euphemisms for sex. Recently, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture Shock, Food, Uncategorized, Weird | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

A Link For Hungry Japanese Learners…

Posted on July 8, 2011 by

Anyone who has ever watched me “talk” to Japanese people may find this shocking, but I’m honored to have a guest post over at Zonjineko, one of the best Japanese-language-learning sites on the web. Because I haven’t starved to death in … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, language, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Carbonated Cough Drops: Reviewing Japan’s “Menthol Shock” Soda

Posted on June 21, 2011 by

Today at the conbini I stumbled across a new benchmark in Japanese Soda Pop: “Menthol Shock,” released nationwide in June.

Posted in Food, Weird | 7 Comments

On Not Walking While Drinking Soda in Japan

Posted on June 15, 2011 by

Why doesn’t anyone in Japan drink soda while walking? Google results are unsatisfactory. Is it considered rude? Dangerous? Had it never occurred to anyone that they could drink while walking? Japanese friends answer with a shrug. “We just don’t, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture Shock, Food, Uncategorized, Weird | 9 Comments

On Japanese Convenience Stores | コンビニ

Posted on April 27, 2011 by

There’s some irony that the English “convenience store” is such a misnomer. There aren’t real conveniences, just bathrooms and cigarettes, packaged food and buckets of shaved ice smothered in anti-freeze colored syrup. Japan has adopted the concept – and word … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture Shock, Food | 19 Comments