Kenji's Advice List

Kenji image Kenji Japan 16 years in Japan

Originally from the United States, I was raised in Baltimore, Maryland and educated in Baltimore, NYC the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Ushimado Olive Garden images

Ushimado Olive Garden

When you think of Japan olives might not be the first thing that comes to mind but in fact they are widely produced in the south western part of the country. The Olive Garden in Ushimado, Setouchi City, Okayama, has the largest olive tree orchard in Japan. After World War II, many Japanese co…(304 words)

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Kenji

Garden City Visit Summer Food Building Sea Shop Business Eat
Bizen Osafune Sword Museum images

Bizen Osafune Sword Museum

Japan is synonymous with master sword-making. This status has been cultivated through popular culture with the myriad of samurai and ninja movies that have been made over the years. While Hollywood often focuses on the fanciful side of the Japanese sword, within Japanese popular culture it tends to…(307 words)

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Kenji

Museum City Visit Food Art History Play Samurai Okayama
The Birthplace of Yumeji images

The Birthplace of Yumeji

Do you know Yumeji Takehisa? Even if you don’t know the name you are probably familiar with the work of this artist from the early 20th century. Sometimes referred to as Japan’s Toulouse Lautrec, Yumeji was active during the Belle Epoque of the Taisho era during which the nation lived in relative…(315 words)

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Kenji

City Park Art Souvenir Walk Kimono Children style Okayama Work
A Car License the Old-fashioned Way images

A Car License the Old-fashioned Way

After being in Japan a while you might feel the need to drive, especially if you live outside a big city. Getting a car license if you are from abroad can be a daunting task for some people but there are actually several ways to go about it.You can transfer your license from your home country. …(324 words)

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Kenji

City Live Stay School Work car license
Getting your Motorcycle License images

Getting your Motorcycle License

There are a few ways to get a motorcycle license in Japan. If you have a license from your home country you can go through the process of having it transferred to a Japanese one. This process differs according the home country in question.If you don't have a license you can get one by taking th…(189 words)

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Kenji

School running Motorsport
The Saga of the 50cc license (2007) images

The Saga of the 50cc license (2007)

I've been struggling to get a 50cc motorbike license since May. You would think it would be easy but the thing is that I was determined to take the test in Japanese like all the other Japanese people in this country. After I went to day school for the certificate showing that I had taken a 50cc dri…(512 words)

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Kenji

Saga City Bus English May Stay School Rain speakers
Olive Garden Market images

Olive Garden Market

Nippon Olive’s Olive Garden Market offers one more reason to visit Ushimado. Held one Sunday a month from 10 am to 4 pm, the market has continued to gain momentum since its creation at the beginning of 2013. On my first visit I was happy to see that so many people have put the Olive Garden on their…(361 words)

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Kenji

Garden Food Sea
Old Saidaiji Railway images

Old Saidaiji Railway

Saidaiji is well-known for its Hadaka Matsuri or Naked Festival but few people, even locals are aware that there was once a light rail line that ran to central Okayama City. Saidaiji Railway was in operation from 1911 to 1962 and provided transport along the 11.4 kilometers between what was then Sa…(364 words)

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Kenji

Train City Trip History River Nature Bicycle Tennis
Bizen Osafune Sword Museum images

Bizen Osafune Sword Museum

I studied ancient Greek when I was in college and although fascinating, it was hard to use phrases like, "the donkey pulls my cart" in everyday conversation. Sword making is an ancient tradition in Japan and as with ancient Greek, I was curious as to whether it held some utility in today's society.…(403 words)

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Kenji

Museum City Visit Art Samurai Movie tradition
Yoshima YMCA Retreat images

Yoshima YMCA Retreat

oshima Island is located off the southern tip of Shodoshima in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea. It has an area of 2.2 square kilometers and is about 1 kilometer from the main island of Shodoshima. Although Yoshima is part of Shodoshima and therefore Kagawa Prefecture, it is administered by the Kobe YMCA.…(421 words)

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Kenji

Sea Sport Beaches Nature Outdoor recreation Tennis Okayama Kobe Bar Food
Monthly/weekly mansions images

Monthly/weekly mansions

Many years ago I was in a situation where I needed a place to stay for a few months. Regular hotels would be too expensive so I looked around and discovered monthly weekly mansions. These are apartments that allow you two rent by the week or the month and only require identification unlike regular …(101 words)

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Kenji

 
Start with chu-hai images

Start with chu-hai

Chu-hai is a popular alcoholic drink made with the potato based shochu. It is sold in cans and ranges in price from under 100 yen to around 300 yen for 350ml. The price depends on the quality and where you buy it as supermarkets will obviously be cheaper that convenience stores and vending machines…(66 words)

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Kenji

Convenience store Drink Shochu
A decent hotel substitute images

A decent hotel substitute

In Tokyo I have used internet cafes that don't even ask for identification. In Okayama many of them require you to have a members card which makes some sort of identification necessary. They charge by time intervals but it depends on the establishment. 10-15 minutes, 30 minutes or hourly rates are …(69 words)

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Kenji

Tokyo Hotel Comic cafe Okayama
Think green tea images

Think green tea

In Japan, people eat and drink things daily that promote longevity and anti-aging as a matter of fact. For example, green tea not only tastes great hot or cold but has a ton of anti-oxidants.Soy bean products are also known to keep you young and healthy. Soy milk, tofu and natto (fermented soy …(65 words)

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Kenji

Drink Tea Green tea Milk Tofu (Soy bean curd) Natto (Fermented soy beans)
Firefly Festival "Hotaru Matsuri" images

Firefly Festival "Hotaru Matsuri"

Firefly festivals are held all over Japan usually at the beginning of summer. Almost every community with a waterway has one and they are open to the public. There are usually food stalls selling yaki soba (fried noodles) and yaki tori (chicken kebabs).(43 words)

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Kenji

Soba noodles Japanese festivals Yaki soba noodles Summer
The city center and near train stations images

The city center and near train stations

The further you get from the city center or a train station, the cheaper the land is likely to be. People want to live near a station and enjoy the convenience of the city center so land prices will be high in these areas. This would be the case for any city but major cities would be more expensive…(65 words)

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Kenji

Train City Train station
100 yen shop is a cheap choice images

100 yen shop is a cheap choice

You can buy underwear for 100 yen at a 100 yen shop. They even sell disposable underwear that are made of some sort of plastic, if you like to travel light. You can find every sort of undergarment you could want and a few that you might have a hard time identifying.(53 words)

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Kenji

100 yen shop
Many are made of wax images

Many are made of wax

Many of the food displays are made of wax using an artistic technique and coloring to create the appearance of real food. They dip the hot wax in water to produce a variety of shapes.Some of the food on display is made of plastic but from what I've seen, wax food-making is a real art.(63 words)

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Kenji

Art Food
Not everything costs 100 yen images

Not everything costs 100 yen

Some items in the stores cost more than 100 yen so pay attention to the price tags. There are some items that go for up to 600 yen or so. With the tax hike, all goods are at least 108 yen at this time and may rise in the future with additional tax increases.(54 words)

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Kenji

May
Have your umbrella on hand in June and July images

Have your umbrella on hand in June and July

The rainy season starts in June or July depending on the particular year. If you have plans, make sure you allow for extra time as trains and buses are often behind schedule during this time of year.There is also typhoon season which happens in the fall. So, rain gear of all types is worth havi…(62 words)

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Kenji

Umbrella
Rich and hoppy images

Rich and hoppy

Japanese beer tends to have a richer taste than beer in the USA. Recently dark brew and beer with a strong flavor of hops have been produced by the major Japanese brands.(32 words)

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Kenji

Beer
Have your point card ready images

Have your point card ready

If you happen to have a point card, rebate ticket or coupon for the particular shop, get it out in advance because you won't have time to look for it when you reach the cashier.(35 words)

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Kenji

Etiquette Ticket
They are there to help images

They are there to help

Sometimes there is no officer in the police box because they are out on patrol. If you need to talk to someone just pick up the phone on the desk. You don't have to dial. An officer will answer on the other end.(43 words)

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Kenji

Police
Use it in spurts images

Use it in spurts

You can use English as a tourist in Japan. Just speak clearly and smoothly without running your words together.(19 words)

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Kenji

 
It depends on the hospital images

It depends on the hospital

Japan has public and private specialist and general hospitals. There are also quite a few public and private clinics. Your medical need may influence your choice.All hospitals require initial registration at which time a card will be made for you. If you don't have Japanese health insurance you…(76 words)

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Kenji

Hospital
Keep your attire dark images

Keep your attire dark

Some women may wear a dark colored kimono but recently I've noticed that most women wear a black formal dress. Men wear a dark suit with a white shirt and a black tie.(33 words)

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Kenji

Kimono