Category: Japanese culture

  • Japanese Recipe Adventures: Goya Chanpuru

    Japanese Recipe Adventures: Goya Chanpuru

    When I first tried Goya in Okinawa, I’ll admit it didn’t grip me straight away. Those bitter flavours are not something my British palette was particularly accustomed to. But after some time went by, I found myself craving the Okinawan dish once more! Here’s my recipe for how to make it, published on GaijinPot:https://blog.gaijinpot.com/japanese-recipe-adventures-goya-chanpuru/

  • Japanese Recipe Adventures: Udon Gyoza

    Japanese Recipe Adventures: Udon Gyoza

    While wondering what else I can do with udon other than sticking it in soup, I came across a peculiar recipe for Udon Gyoza. I’ve adapted the recipe a little and figured out some tricks to make it crispy on the outside and spring in the middle, and have ended up with a carb-o-licious recipe…

  • Chef Kazuhisa Nakao On His Miyazaki Dining Innovation

    Chef Kazuhisa Nakao On His Miyazaki Dining Innovation

    I interviewed chef Kazuhisa Nakao, former chef to the Japanese Ambassador of Hong Kong. He told me about his time in Hong Kong and Bali, and the challenges he faces running three restaurants under one roof. All images in this article were taken by me. Read the article here:https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2022/05/miyazaki-dining-innovation-chef-kazuhisa-nakao/

  • 5 Japanese Words We Use in English

    5 Japanese Words We Use in English

    The words “sudoku” and “sushi” have become so commonplace in the English language. But do you ever stop to think what they really mean? Sure, sudoku is a word game, and sushi is a fish and rice dish, but why are they called that, and why didn’t we come up with our own English words…

  • Japanese 102: How To Send Parcels at the Post Office

    Japanese 102: How To Send Parcels at the Post Office

    I put together a guide on how to navigate the complicated services available at a Japanese post office, as well as some useful Japanese phrases to get by. Read the article here:https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2022/04/japanese-post-office-cheat-sheet/

  • 6 Culturally Significant Japanese Flowers and Where to Find Them

    6 Culturally Significant Japanese Flowers and Where to Find Them

    I looked into six of Japan’s culturally significant flowers and found that many of them had a deeper back story than being a simple spring decoration. Read the article here:https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2022/04/culturally-significant-japanese-flowers/

  • Interview With Calligraphy Master Koshu

    Interview With Calligraphy Master Koshu

    I interviewed shodo (Japanese calligraphy) master, Koshu, about her journey that resulted in teaching the art in the UK. Koshu has been my calligraphy teacher for 10 years now, and I was moved by how much deeper her story went than I could have imagined. Read the article here:https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2022/03/koshu-calligraphy-master/

  • Bring Japan’s Springtime into Your Kitchen

    Bring Japan’s Springtime into Your Kitchen

    Japan’s love of the seasons doesn’t stop at cherry blossoms and autumn leaves. Here I explain Japan’s spring essential ingredients and some go-to dishes. Many of the images in this article were taken by me. Read the article here:https://allabout-japan.com/en/article/10783/

  • Geisha in Kyoto Struggle to Protect Traditions in Face of Coronavirus

    Geisha in Kyoto Struggle to Protect Traditions in Face of Coronavirus

    The Geisha of Kyoto have had a famously exclusive clientele and, understandably, on face-to-face terms only. So when the number of people visiting Kyoto drastically dropped amid the coronavirus pandemic, they were at a loss of what to do. Here’s how the Geisha were brought into the online world:https://livejapan.com/en/in-kansai/in-pref-kyoto/in-gion_kawaramachi_kiyomizu-dera-temple/article-a2000580/

  • Japanese Umbrella Etiquette

    Japanese Umbrella Etiquette

    Umbrellas are used so much more in Japan than I have ever seen in the UK. Almost every establishment has a proper place for you to put your umbrella, or even lock it, and if they don’t, they have special drying tools at the door to make sure you don’t drip water everywhere. Here’s a…