Hakone – Ryokan and Onsen (Video) Posted by sasha on Aug 17, 2012
Just a few hours from Japan’s capital city of Tokyo lies the mountainous area known as Hakone. From the big city, you can take a bullet train, switch to a scenic train, and finally take a short cable car ride to get here. With such beautiful scenery, the ride is half the fun! Two of…
The National High School Baseball Championship Posted by Marcel on Aug 11, 2012
What’s 日本 (にっぽん/Japan’s) national sport? If you answered 相撲 (すもう/Sumo), you’d be right, at least on paper. If you rank by popularity though, 野球 (やきゅう/baseball) is far and away 日本’s most popular sport. 男の子 (おとこのこ/Boys) start playing in 小学校 (しょうがっこう/elementary school) with the dream of joining one of the 12 teams in Japan’s professional league…
Thunder and Lightning Posted by Marcel on Jul 31, 2012
Due to all the 雨 (あめ/rain) we had over the last ２ヶ月 (にかげつ/two months), I’ve thoroughly got 雷 (かみなり/lightning) on the brain. We don’t get 雷 *every* time 雨が降る (あめがふる/rain falls), but we still get it a lot. I personally love to sit at a 窓 (まど/window) with a cup of 紅茶 (こうちゃ/ black tea) and…
Temple Hopping in Tokyo (Video) Posted by sasha on Jul 30, 2012
Tokyo is known around the world as a bustling metropolis, full of skyscrapers, neon lights, and millions upon millions of people. The Japanese capital also has quite a few peaceful temples and shrines, where one can escape the madness of the busy streets. Take a short tour through two of these – the Senso-Ji Buddhist…
Temple Hopping in Tokyo Posted by sasha on Jul 25, 2012
Arriving in the city proper, our first order of business was figuring out how to navigate the incredibly complex Tokyo subway system. First of all, there are different companies operating lines – the Tokyo Metro (東京メトロ) and the Toei (都営). The good news is you can get anywhere you want in the city; the bad news…
Mother Nature is Angry Posted by Marcel on Jul 23, 2012
As I mentioned last month, the 梅雨 (つゆ/rainy season) runs from late ５月 (ごがつ/May) to mid-late ７月 (しちがつ/July), depending on the area that you live in. As scheduled, the 雨 (あめ/rain) hit during that time, but 今年 (ことし/this year) there was a lot more than average. In fact, many areas received more 雨 in a…
Hajimemashite, Japan Posted by sasha on Jul 17, 2012
こんにちは Transparent Japanese blog! My name is Sasha, and I’ll be a guest writer/video producer on the blog for the next few months. As I currently reside in Beijing, you can usually find me on the Chinese blog. I’ve also contributed to both the Thai and Spanish pages, so if you’re interested in China, Thailand…