Tamaki SAITO（西東たまき）

To have a kitchen garden is one of the popular hobbies among Japanese. Usually, people rent a little space at nearby house, which is easy for daily care. Common products are seasonal vegetables and herbs. Mainly, the object of having kitchen garden is to satisfy the natural demand to feel nature closely and enjoy the fresh harvest as a result, rather than economic purposes like saving the budget to buy veggies. Frankly speaking, paying the rent, prepare the tools and buying pots of seedlings, not really seeds in many cases for the best result, end up quite a cost. But ...

Japanese as ‘Rice people’ put extreme high value on new crop of rice every year. Harvest starts from the southern part of Japan from early August and the frontier winds up towards the north; Hokkaido at last will enjoy its time in October. Thanks to the highly-controlled storage system, despite the fact that Japan affords only one harvest a year in the most part of the country, the quality of rice is kept very high in standard all year round. You could hardly observe any degradation among the rice of one year old. They taste fresh enough.   Yet new ...

Beauty salon for women is not only the place for hair treatment but also a place to feel relaxed. Just within an hour or two what a salon can offer the customers is where competition for elaboration thrives. Open the door and step into the salon, you will be cheerfully greeted by the staff. Your bag and coat will be collected to store in the closet. Then you will be gently questioned your requests for the day.   Discussion Once you are lead to the seat set in front of the mirror, the hair stylist and the assistant will take ...

The term agritourism is widely known now. While it doesn’t seem to be acknowledged as ‘agritourism’, the long-run habit of fruit picking in Japan should be one of them. Every season has its special fruits that come to the harvest like strawberry in early spring, pear and grape in early autumn and such and such. There are number of farms open their estate for tourists for fruit picking. Tourists are allowed to take a walk around the farm and pick fruits and eat fresh as much as they feel like. This is one of the common holiday activities in Japan. ...

Who would have thought that curry is ranked as one of the Japan’s most popular dishes? Actually, there are many people who declare that they will never get bored to eat curry every single day! In Japan, ‘curry’ means ‘curry rice’ in short, which is not quite similar as the ones you find in India or Thailand. Japanese curry is made with a paste which is a mixture of spices and a bit of wheat flour to create rather heavy consistency. This thick sauce shall be poured over the plain rice.   The other ingredients are basically fixed: Irish potatoes, ...

If you want to take a walk or kill time and don’t want to spend money, library shall be the perfect destination; fully air-conditioned and full of books, magazines, CDs and DVDs from the latest to the classics. Every local government has several of the well-stocked libraries per district. You can visit there and just scan the latest materials at the site or if you prefer, you can borrow them for a specific period, most of the case for two weeks and extendable, as per stipulated at each facility, if you are resident of the district. This system has contributed ...

Very early in the morning, much before dawn, you will hear the sound of motorbike going around the houses and apartments. They are ‘Shimbun haitatsu’ newspaper delivery. Although people who subscribe newspaper are decreasing than before, along with the spread of the internet that provides various information immediately, especially among young generation. Internet will update you per minutes. But newspaper delivery is still much alive. One way or another we must get things Win To combat with the internet news services, newspaper agents are very keen to keep up the number of subscription. They send salespersons occasionally to visit houses ...

Japanese-made English Japanese have created a lot of English-based / English-inspired words. The funny thing is that while in most of the case those are believed as ‘genuine English’, actually they are often quite different from what could mean to English speakers. So some people are fully confident to use them only to be puzzled. Here are some examples. How do you understand these typical ‘Japanese-made English’? Salary man？ ‘Salary man’ is the person working on salary-basis, which shall be called a white-collar-worker in English. When it comes to a female worker, she is especially called an ‘Office Lady’, further ...

When you are officially confirmed pregnant at the hospital, you are requested to go to your local city hall to receive ‘Boshi-techo’; Maternal and Child Health Handbook. It is a handy diary-size booklet that contains the basic knowledge that mother-to-be would wish to know; how to maintain maternal health and how to take care of the baby at every growth stage. Boshi-techo is issued by each local government to every mother-to-be regardless of her nationality. It often contains several cards which provide some free medical check-ups and screenings.   The course of pregnancy Various progress is recorded Examination date The ...

This is a service In many countries, if you go to restaurant and you need water, you will have to buy a bottle. But not in Japan. Once you are seated in the restaurant, immediately a glass of icy water will be served for you, even before your order is taken. This must be a great relief if you are coming from abroad where everything has to be charged. If you want another glass, just ask. They are free for refill. Let's get free items and help them   When you walk on the streets, sometimes you may encounter a ...