Existing Member?

the world outside / outside the world My life outside America: teaching, learning, living, loving.

Tags

There are [0] photos and [23] stories tagged with "japan".


Tokyo's newest animal cafe - hedgehogs!

JAPAN | Saturday, 16 Apr 2016 | Views [549]

There has been a lot of interest in the newly opened hedgehog café in Tokyo. I figured while I was in the area I should see what all the fuss was about. Harry is on the second floor of Ms.Bunny, the rabbit café, in Roppongi. It is incredibly ... Read more >

Tags: animal cafe, hedgehog cafe, hedgehogs, japan, tokyo


D.C.'s Grand Sake Tasting Event: A Night of Fancy Booze and Great Conversations

USA | Sunday, 20 Apr 2014 | Views [1232]

April hit me like a brick of rocks and started off quite shaky. Because of that I haven’t been in the best of moods so when I was offered a spot to volunteer at the annual Taste of Japan Grand Sake Tasting event (part of the National Cherry Blossom ... Read more >

Tags: alcohol, culture, japan, sake, shochu, washington d.c.


X JAPAN World Tour: Live in Yokohama ~ August 14, 2010

JAPAN | Tuesday, 17 Aug 2010 | Views [4298] | Comments [1]

X Japan FEVER: Live in YOKOHAMA ~ 2010.08.14   I consider myself blessed to have not only been able to visit the hide Museum (while it was open), go to both the X Japan Reunion concert in 2008 and the 10 th anniversary hide Memorial Summit ... Read more >

Tags: concert, japan, jrock, live, tokyo, visual kei, x japan, yokohama


To think that I am now in Australia

AUSTRALIA | Monday, 4 Jan 2010 | Views [931]

Welcome to the flip side, literally. A locational shift from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere; Japan to Australia. And welcome to the new year and whatever that shall entail.   I have been in Australia for about half a year now, ... Read more >

Tags: australia, japan, melbourne, new years, travel


Sayonara Osaka, I will miss you!!

JAPAN | Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009 | Views [1555]

I’m sitting here at my computer on the very last night that I’ll live here in Japan. It’s such a crazy bitter-sweet feeling. I’ve had so many amazing experiences here as well as so many wretched stories as well. It has been one wild rollercoaster ... Read more >

Tags: japan, life, osaka, sayonara


Osaka Aquarium: Ocean, You Meet Whale Shark

JAPAN | Thursday, 14 May 2009 | Views [5144] | Comments [1]

Well, that’s what it says on the front of the English brochure handed to me at Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. Engrish at it’s best.   During Golden Week (Japan’s spring break) one of my friends came over from Nagoya and we decided ... Read more >

Tags: aquarium, dolphins, fish, japan, jellyfish, kaiyukan, osaka, otters, penguin, shark


Chris†on Cafe: everything you ever wanted from a church at dinnertime

JAPAN | Thursday, 7 May 2009 | Views [1435]

Imagine a restaurant themed as a "church" as seen by Japanese eyes: with gaudy images of Christ on his cross neon-lit in blue, frescoed ceilings of cheeky cherubs, glittering glass chandeliers, a silver disco ball(?!!) tall multicolored candles, and ... Read more >

Tags: food, japan, osaka, restaurant, theme


Sakura petals at Himeji Castle

JAPAN | Saturday, 11 Apr 2009 | Views [3764]

  Today was a roaming day, and a bit far from my normal grounds: I went to Himeji in Hyogo prefecture. I left my apartment at 9:30 am to be in Himeji by 11 so I could meet my friend at the station. We headed straight into the Himeji tourist office ... Read more >

Tags: castle, cherry blossom, culture, himeji, japan, park, sakura, spring, temple, tradition


Host Club Hustle

JAPAN | Wednesday, 8 Apr 2009 | Views [14939] | Comments [1]

So Saturday night – or rather early Sunday morning – a couple of Western friends and I decided to visit a host club. For 3 of us (myself included) this was our first step into the dark and mysterious world of hosting but the last of our group ... Read more >

Tags: host club, japan, nightlife, osaka


It's time for sumo!!

JAPAN | Friday, 27 Mar 2009 | Views [2578]

Sumo season is here in Osaka and with it comes bustling crowds of people in an already bustling part of a busy city (Namba). This is probably the strangest time for a foreigner to live in Osaka because not only are you repeatedly mistaken for ... Read more >

Tags: culture, japan, osaka, spring, sumo, tradition


Midnight necropolis: a night at a Japanese goth club

JAPAN | Monday, 23 Mar 2009 | Views [2870]

A midnight in a cemetery?! Well, not quite. Rather inside the bottom basement floor of a smoky dark club. I give you Midnight Necropolis: the gothic club night that happens once a month here in Osaka. While the name and “theme” changes (Black ... Read more >

Tags: clubbing, fashion, goth, gothic, japan, nightlife, osaka


Catching some culture: Osaka's National Art Museum

JAPAN | Sunday, 1 Mar 2009 | Views [5802]

My friend and I felt the need for a little bit of culture so we headed over to the National Museum of Art in Osaka. Leaving Higobashi exit 3 (on the blue Yotsubashi subway line) we followed a map directly outside the station to the museum. ... Read more >

Tags: art, china, contemporary, culture, japan, kanji, museum, osaka


Laughing with Pirates!

JAPAN | Monday, 23 Feb 2009 | Views [2491] | Comments [1]

The Pirates of the Dotonbori, that is, an Osaka-based improvisation group who put on shows at various venues throughout the year. Think of a local-based “ Whose Line Is It Anyway? ” show and that’s what these guys are except their shows are ... Read more >

Tags: club, comedy, improv, improvisation, japan, osaka


Nagoya: Atsuta and the Castle

JAPAN | Wednesday, 4 Feb 2009 | Views [1500]

How was Nagoya you ask? Well, first off, thanks for asking and secondly, it was quite nice.   My friend Alicia and I grabbed the express Kintetsu Urban Liner from Namba to Nagoya which runs every thirty minutes, takes ... Read more >

Tags: atsuta shrine, castle, japan, nagoya, setsubun


Gackt: thoughts of a Japanese rock concert

JAPAN | Sunday, 1 Feb 2009 | Views [3626] | Comments [4]

Gackt: Requiem et Reminiscence II ~再生と邂逅~ (Rebirth and Reunion) - Nagoya, 2009.1.30 Say who? Gah-coo-toe , as the Japanese like to pronounce his name, is a very famous visual rock/pop star in Japan who is also decently ... Read more >

Tags: bunraku movie, concert, gackt, japan, jrock, nagoya, visual kei


Bunraku: Puppet Theater

JAPAN | Monday, 26 Jan 2009 | Views [3856]

Bunraku – boon-rah-coo – or traditional Japanese puppet theater was founded in Osaka in 1684, though apparently established as the form we know today coming about in 1872 (I’m quoting the Wiki here). Bunraku contains the puppeteers (the ... Read more >

Tags: culture, japan, new years, osaka, puppet, theater, winter


Thinking of moving to Japan?

JAPAN | Sunday, 18 Jan 2009 | Views [3888] | Comments [1]

My thoughts of Japan throughout the past year of living here; the good, the bad, the strange and ugly. Japan is a land of extremes: from the obsessive otaku s to the overly frilly maid café dresses, the made-up high school girls with their ... Read more >

Tags: concert, culture, festival, japan, living, teaching, travel


SUPER TRANCE CLUB NIGHT!!!

JAPAN | Sunday, 11 Jan 2009 | Views [2513]

I visited my first trance club here in Japan over in the well-known Amemura in Osaka’s Shinsaibashi. Wait, according to the flyer it was called “super trance” (whatever that means) at a venue called Club Joule (http://www.club-joule.co.jp/) ... Read more >

Tags: clubbing, japan, nightlife, osaka


Fukubukuro Hunting

JAPAN | Saturday, 3 Jan 2009 | Views [1855]

What is a fukubukuro you ask? It is a “Lucky Bag” full of winter goodies from all your favorite stores; what’s left over because in Japan New Years is a time of cleansing and renewal and old clothes and accessories must go!! Many stores throughout ... Read more >

Tags: fashion, fukubukuro, japan, lucky bag, new years, osaka, shopping, winter


Have a very merry German Christmas?!

JAPAN | Saturday, 13 Dec 2008 | Views [1266]

I went to the lovely German Christmas Fair in Umeda with my two Japanese friends, Aya and Atsuko. We walked to a lovely overhang that spelled out Merry Christmas in German ( Weihnachtsgrüße ?), followed by a cute little carousel with prettily decorated ... Read more >

Tags: christmas, fair, food, germany, japan, osaka, winter


View more stories by kurenai tagged with "japan"
1 2 Next >


See kurenai's most popular tags >