English– category –

There's no national law against eating while you walk in Japan. People do it, especially at festivals and on food streets built for exactly that. But in some places and moments it draws quiet looks, and the reason isn't really ...

Walk into an izakaya or a chain restaurant in Japan and you'll see two words on the menu: nomihodai (all-you-can-drink) and tabehodai (all-you-can-eat). Both look like simple deals. But the way they're built says a lot about ho...

Japan's New Year, called Oshogatsu, is the biggest holiday of the year. But ask most people if they're religious, and they'll say no. Then they'll go pray at a shrine, give children money in special envelopes, and eat...

For a few days in summer, much of Japan slows down. Trains fill, highways clog, and cities empty out. This is Obon, when many people return to their family hometowns. The official idea is simple: the spirits of the dead come back to visi...

Walk into a Japanese convenience store and, next to the rice balls andcoffee, you might find anime figures, character keychains, or a lotterycalled "ichiban kuji" where every ticket wins a prize. To many visitorsthis feels random. It isn...