AustinA
United States
19 years in Japan
Live, learn and pass it on. My specialty is Jidaigeki, Tenpura, Japanese cooking and Japanese and Western Business style. I continue supporting firms with soft skills training too. Please connect with me on linked in http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=40343719&locale=en_US&trk=tyah&trkInfo=tas%3AAustin%2Cidx%3A2-2-3
Just a few days ago, I had an opportunity to visit one of the best “Wagyu Cattle Ranches” in Japan, which is located in the city of Hayama, less than 2 hours train/ bus ride from Tokyo. The ranch is surrounded by serene nature, it lies among a combination of bamboo, cedar forest, a stream and many …(739 words)
AustinA
Japanese Beef Tokyo Japan City Restaurant Food Hayama Japanese Wagyu Beef
Now that we have left the first stop Nihonbashi (described in my previous article), we are approaching our next stop of Shinagawa. Imagine you are traveling from Edo (Present Tokyo) to Kyoto during early 1800’s. It is highly likely that Tokaido Road was used to make your journey. It runs north and …(630 words)
AustinA
Shinagawa Tokyo Tokaido 53 Tsugi Train Summer Art Kyoto Hara Museum
Recently, I took a casual walk to a very famous Tokyo locale known as “Nihonbashi”. It is to the North of JR Tokyo station. It was a nice 10-plus minute walk from the station and as I walked carefully with a sharp eye on my surroundings, I noticed the concentration of major businesses concentrated …(433 words)
AustinA
Highway Tokyo Kyoto History Ginza Department store River Walk Tokaido 53 Tsugi Nihonbashi
I am going to introduce you to a temple call Shomyoji Temple, which is located in Kanazawa Bunko, Yokohama. Kanazawa Bunko is located approximately 20 minutes south of Yokohama JR station. To get to Kanazawa Bunko, you must get on a red train call Keikyu line from Yokohama or Tokyo cities and get o…(594 words)
AustinA
Yokohama Tera (Temple) Tokyo Train Park Visit History Train station English Kamakura
I live in the city of Shinagawa and on my way to Shinagawa JR train station, I walk along the properly spaced and placed trees along the main road along the JR train tracks. The tree I am describing is titled Ginkgo Biloba or at times it is known by maidenhair tree. According to Wikipedia, “Gin…(541 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Train City Summer Art Tera (Temple) Food Spring Jinjya (Shrine) History
Many years ago, my Dad as well as some of my other family members from the US were stationed in various parts of Japan from just after WWII. When I was with them, one of the questions they often ask me is about cigarette smokers and proper manner for smoking in Japan.During their assignments in…(272 words)
AustinA
Etiquette
JAMSTEC stands for Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology was renamed from Japan Marine Science and Technology Centre in April 2004.http://www.jamstec.go.jp/chikyu/eng/ChikyuImages/video2.htmlJAMSTEC’s main objective is “to contribute to the advancement of academic research re…(788 words)
AustinA
Visit Japan Travel Travel Technology Train Summer Event History Train station English
I travel fairly frequently to overseas destinations with my business but when I am on my way to Narita Airport using Narita express, I find myself asking which terminal I have to get off and would I go to the north or south gate to check with the airline I am about to embark. When I came back f…(282 words)
AustinA
Airport Train Hotel Bus English May Business Post office Travel Japan Travel
Though I travel through Haneda airport less frequently than from Narita Airport, I do travel through Haneda about ½ dozen times per year so I wanted to share the airport information with you as I did for Narita airport.Haneda airport is much closer to the center of Tokyo and it is very convenie…(274 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Airport Haneda Airport
Have you ever been to a city call “Chigasaki”？ It is located central Kanagawa Prefecture between Fujisawa and Hiratsuka city with population of little over 236,000 people and a population density of 6,610 person per square kilometer.I had an opportunity to visit the Chigasaki city taking JR Tok…(301 words)
AustinA
Japan Travel Travel Tokyo City Yokohama Visit Drink Kamakura Kanagawa Chigasaki
Once you arrive in Tokyo Haneda airport, you have several transportation options to get to Tokyo area. They are by train, bus, hired limousine or taxi. I guess you can hitchhike and walk but we will not discuss those options here:) I travel from time to time with my work so I come into Nari…(767 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Airport Transportation Train Yokohama Hotel Building Ticket Limousine Bus
I just returned to Japan today and arrived in Narita airport terminal 1 via Delta Airlines. I’ve done this so many times but noticed so many visitors are wondering around with such a lost look that I’ve decided to write this article. Once you arrive in Tokyo Narita airport, you have several choic…(828 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Yokohama Airport Train Hotel Shinjuku Building Ticket Bus Train station
We often describe what to do once you arrive in Japan but I am in the process of returning to Japan and decided to write an article to inform you what you will be going through to get through Japanese Customs whether your flight arrives in Narita, Haneda, Osaka or any other Japan port of entry.…(567 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Visit Hotel Shinjuku Osaka Live Stay Airplane custom Phone
Just last week, I’ve experienced another massage establishment called “Minnanotemomi”. Minnanotemomi mean’s roughly everyone’s massage and the massage they did for me was excellent caliber, yet one of the most inexpensive fees that I’ve came across thus far during my stay in Japan. A very well …(392 words)
AustinA
Etiquette Massage
Have you seen a movie produced by Warner Brother’s call “The Wizard of Oz”？ In one of the parts, munchkins tell Dorothy, the Coward Lion, the Tin Man and the scarecrow to follow the yellow brick road. Well, this is almost like it to help people navigate from point a to b.When I came back to Jap…(394 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Train Yokohama Train station Osaka Nagoya May Movie view Lion
As you may know, one of the most used modes of transportation in japan is the train. In the midst of your travel, I am fairly confident that you’ve come across a small “Soba” (noodle) shop within the train station. The first thought I had in my mind was how traditional this establishment is for…(552 words)
AustinA
Train Restaurant Train station Tokyo Summer Drink Ticket Kyoto Winter Food
When you visit Japan, did you ever wonder how to get from point A to point B? I did many times and I use information boards all the time. There are many information boards in and around train station/platform but unless you study well, it may be challenging to decipher so in hope of assisting y…(1441 words)
AustinA
Train Japan Travel Park Building Visit Ticket Bus Train station Airport English
Kanagawa-juku is the third of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in Kanagawa - Ku in the present-day city of Yokohama Japan. The photo dipicts a series of houses along side of ocean but one of these houses is a traditional restaurant, which serves “Shabu-Shabu” among other d…(351 words)
AustinA
Shabu shabu Kanagawa Japan Travel food Japanese cuisine Japanese Culture Yokohama
Toukaido was one of the five critical roads in Japan created by Tokugawa Ieyasu who ruled Japan during the Edo period. Specifically, Toukaido was created to connect between Edo (present Tokyo) where the Shogun resided and Kyoto where the Imperial party resided.Along its travel route from Edo to…(498 words)
AustinA
Japan Travel Ukiyoe
Allow me to introduce you to a term Benkyoukai. The term Benkyoukai is made up of three Kanji Characters and the first one is written as 勉, which means “exertion”. The second character is written as 強and it means “strong”. The third character is written as 会 and it means “meeting, assoc…(278 words)
AustinA
Visit Event Sport May Japanese Culture Hobby Business activities
I am sure that you have seen the people around the train stations and other locations throughout many cities passing out small packs of tissue papers to nearby travelers.When offered, I usually take one from them for I feel bad since most people ignore them and will not take one. Especially dur…(258 words)
AustinA
Train Spring Train station Flower Entertainment May Weather advertisement Japan Travel
I wanted to climb Mt. Fuji from the first time I saw it up close. And although it was a beautiful sight, I would have been content to just view it from afar. Seeing Mt. Fuji’s beauty up close was not the reason I wanted to climb to the top. My first visit was to the fifth step in early May of …(1677 words)
AustinA
Mount Fuji Japan Travel Day trip from Tokyo
DEEPEST BAY in JapanLet me introduce you to a place call Suruga Bay, which is located in Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka prefecture, which has the deepest bay in Japan and it extends to 2,500 meters below the sea level (Bay of Bengal is the deepest bay in the world with 2,574 meters). The weather…(420 words)
AustinA
Shizuoka Japanese Spider Crabs Suruga Bay Numazu Day trip from Tokyo Travel Local Japan Boat Trip Japan Mount Fuji Japan Best Views Japan Family-friendly Day Trip Japan Deepest Bay Japan
Recently, I had an opportunity to eat “Sushi” at Saito Sushi Restaurant in Numazu, Japan, which is located in the Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo/Yokohama. The restaurant was recommended by a local taxi driver and the place is frequented by the local people as well as visitors from abroad so I decided…(276 words)
AustinA
Sushi Izu Pennisula Sake (Rice wine) Miso Taxicab Shizuoka Prefecture Sushi Suruga Bay Numazu
The Japanese term “temomi” comes from “te means hand” and “momi (or momu) means Massage”, thus it means hand massage. I found such a place right next to JR Kanda Station (one station north of Tokyo station). Their office is about 30 seconds from the JR Kanda South Exit and when you exit the stati…(424 words)
AustinA
Massage Japan massage Japan Travel Kanda station massage Inexpensive massage Relaxation Japan Massage Tokyo
Jidaigeki and Traditional Japan Mito Koomon (AKA - Tokugawa Mitsukuni)This past weekend, I decided to take a trip to a place call Mito city located in Ibaraki prefecture, north – north - east of Tokyo and with a train, it takes a little over an hour with rapid express or bit more than 2 hours w…(469 words)
AustinA
Japan History Samurai Hero Japan Travel Samurai Japan Travel Mito Plums in Japan Art Museum History Samurai Jidaigeki
“Kairakuen”On Sunday, March 16, 2014 I visited a place call “Mito, Ibaragi” Prefecture. The thought I had was to do some investigative work on a person by the name of Mito Mitsukuni kou (commonly known as Mito Koomon) who appears on a very well-known Jidaigeki TV series.However, I found a treas…(607 words)
AustinA
Parks in Japan Cherry blossom Day trip from Tokyo Plum trees Japan Day Travel Japan Easy Access Adventure Mito Beautiful Spring Japan
Jidaigeki （時代劇）. Let me tell you the book definition of Jidaigeki first for many of you may not know this term at all. It is Literally "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier, such as Heian period—…(494 words)
AustinA
Jidaigeki Ronin Edo Period Mito Koomon Shogun Drama Japanese TV shows Japanese Traditions Music History Samurai Television
My favourite Japanese fried food is called "Tempura" and it is a dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried in around 180 degrees (Celsius) oil. When you see the chef preparing the meal, it looks very easy but it is an art and to make this meal is not so simple. When it co…(172 words)
AustinA
Tempura Art
One of the features of the special toilet seat is the heating element. Many houses in Japan don't have central heating so other than where you spend the most time the rooms are left cold in the house. Except, when you go to the restroom and sit down on the bidet seat. It is a pleasant surprise to h…(158 words)
AustinA
Winter Nature
Most convenient stores are actually.......convenient!!! They are located in the stations, and whenever I walk next to the store it seems to call me over to browse the ice cream case, check out the oden, use the ATM, buy spices suddenly needed during cooking, toilet paper and tissue, office supplies…(112 words)
AustinA
Oden
Although I wouldn't list American football down as one of the most popular sports in Japan, it is popular to some extent. There is not real professional American football league. There are two leagues, the university league and the businessmen's league. The champion university team competes with th…(185 words)
AustinA
Tokyo Sport Game Manga American football
A key point that differentiates Japanese baseball from baseball in the States is the style called small baseball. In small baseball, teams tend to score points through consecutive hits rather than hitting large home-runs. Although home-runs are a more elaborate, and perhaps more exciting, way to sc…(319 words)
AustinA
Baseball Game
The Suica IC card is truly the ultimate IC card which makes transportation so much easier, obviating the need to buy a ticket. However, it does so much more. Suica can be used for shopping at most convenient stores, all kiosks at stations, and all vending machines at stations. The number of pla…(267 words)
AustinA
Train Shopping Ticket Train station Bus Transportation
It is very important to be conscientious of others if you happen to go with Japanese friends. Although nobody will directly tell you this rule, people usually take turns singing at karaoke. No one will probably say anything but you may get some cold looks from your friends if you dominate the mike …(140 words)
AustinA
Etiquette Karaoke
If you are looking for a cheap and delicious in Tokyo, I recommend going to the Tsukiji fish market. Tsukiji is famous for being the largest fish market in the world. You may visit it early in the morning to watch the fishermen negotiating the prices for tuna. When you are done with that, DO NOT FO…(134 words)
AustinA
Tsukiji Tokyo Ramen noodles Sashimi (Raw fish)