Adventures at Tokyo DisneySea

Japan's second Disney park is Tokyo DisneySea. Just like Tokyo Disneyland, this Disney park can also be fully explored in a day. I personally did one day in each park and felt fulfilled. Tokyo DisneySea is known for being the more mature of the parks as it has more thrilling rides and the park has a worldly theme that adults can appreciate. This Disney park is highly praised and is a crowd favorite, especially for couples. Let's get deeper into what makes this park so pleasing.

Stories From Japan: Where's the Ramen?

Here's another story from Japan, back when I studied abroad in Kyoto for the summer in 2010.

This story takes place in the first week of my study abroad program. One of my goals going to Japan for the first time was to have a true "ramen experience." The only ramen I knew of at the time was the cup ramen and the packet ramen everybody in high school ate dry (still never understood that phase). I've seen ramen in Japanese dramas and anime, so I wanted to get a bowl of real ramen in Japan. This was before pocket wifi and sim cards were popular for your phone usage while traveling. I had to look for ramen the old fashion way.

My Adventures at Tokyo Disneyland

The most famous Disney park of course, is Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where they have the most parks and many visitors from around the world. The second most known Disney park is Disneyland in California. Not everyone may know this, but there are many Disney parks outside of the United States. Some of the different countries are home to a Disney park or two, with its own unique twist due to its location. Today, I'd like to introduce you to Tokyo Disneyland!

Most Frequently Asked Japan Travel Questions

Everything you want to know about traveling in Japan is right here. I'm going to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about traveling in Japan. They are in no specific order, but I'll have a short answer and a long answer for each question so that you can read as little or as much as you'd like on each question. I hope I cover any topics you may be interested in. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving in Japan

My husband and I planned a trip to Japan during Thanksgiving week. We did this because it is also an wedding anniversary week. Spending our anniversary in Japan was a great experience, just as it was to have our honeymoon in Japan. Going during this time meant that we would be away from our families for Thanksgiving for the first time. If you are big on Thanksgiving like my husband proclaims he is, then don't travel during this time. You will feel homesick in Japan.

How to Fully Enjoy Japan

This may not seem like a big topic to go over. Just going to Japan is all the enjoyment you need, but when you get there you may forget that fact. This is going to be a short blog but still very important.

You may have all of your Japan trip planned out, like where you're going and all the places you'll see. You may think your schedule is jammed with a lot going on but once you are there you will notice that there are free spaces in your schedule. And not only that but say you have been very active all day (you'll be doing a lot of walking for sure), you'll start to get tired and want to rest. You'll be going back to either your small hotel room or your small airbnb. Now if you're going back to go to sleep then that's fine, but if you're going back to your place of stay just to relax you will be making a grave mistake. If you do that for one day, you'll continue making the same decision of retiring for the night the next day and the day. Soon you'll start to get bored and want your trip to end sooner. That may seem very hard to believe but you will start to feel that way whether you know it or not.

It May Seem Rude to You, But Not in Japan

You know how there are certain things you do in your country that can be considered rude? Well, in other parts of the world it may be the opposite. I say this a lot, but Japan is a unique country with it's own culture and lifestyle. What you may think is rude, may not be in Japan. I live in America, so I will be talking about concepts I'm accustomed to.

Stories From Japan: Is that a Tengu?

I've encountered a lot of animals in Japan, from deer to monkeys and your common house-pets. I never thought I would have such an abnormal encounter to a common outdoor animal such as a crow. Crows are kind of those universal birds that every sees around outside. From my past experiences with crows, they are loud and seem like they always have a watchful eye on you but nothing more. In Japan, I experienced something completely different.

Experience Autumn Season in Japan

Japan is a place that's a great example of having all four seasons. It's mostly known for it's spring time cherry blossoms, as it is a sight to see. But another season that should not be ignored is autumn. For someone like myself who comes from a place that just has summer and winter, the autumn foliage an amazing experience. There are so many colors during the fall season in Japan that it gets to be mesmerizing. I'm just used to colors green and brown, or no leaves at all. So I'm going to give you my opinion and experience of autumn in Japan!

Queue Culture in Japan

Japan is already different from a lot of other countries, but their culture is stands out the most. If you have ever been to Japan you probably experienced the differences in Japanese culture and the culture you come from. For those of you who have not been to Japan it will either be a fun experience or a difficult one. One of the things about the Japanese culture that amazes me id the "queue culture," or the standing in line culture.

Learn the Culture Before Going to Japan

Many blogs, sites and videos will always recommend you learn the Japanese language before traveling to Japan. While that is important it is not as important as learning about the culture. You can get by without the language as I have mentioned in a previous blog, but you won't be able to get by without knowing the culture. If you don't know the Japanese culture you may do something to give a bad representation to foreigners which can lead to other people having a bad experience of Japan.

Japanese Work Ethic

The Japanese work ethic is very different from the work ethic I'm used to in America. There are several good and bad things about the work ethic in Japan. I think the Japanese work ethic is great overall, but I feel it is one of the aspects of Japanese culture that could possibly make or break a foreigner's decision in moving to Japan.

Things You'll Need to Prepare for in Japan

Japan is a very different country, from all other countries in the world. It's a country that has modernized but still held onto its traditions and unique culture. The things you're used to in your own country may not apply in Japan, and I'm not talking about major things such as the language. I'm going to discuss the smaller things that you won't catch unless you actually experience Japan because not a lot of people talk about the smaller things. You could call these things mini culture shocks.

McDonald's in Japan

I used to eat McDonald's a lot as a child but as I got older I try to stop eating it for various reasons. Who knew something like a big American fast food chain would be so popular in Japan? There are other American chains in Japan, but nothing like the big changes McDonald's in Japan has compared to the American ones.

Not so Secret Secrets of Japanese Language

Learning Japanese is already hard enough with all the vocabulary memorization, the grammar rules and the thousands of kanji characters you'll need to study. But all those things are just what's on the surface of learning Japanese. There's more to the Japanese language that some people may not realize. I'll be talking about those not-so-secret secrets you may hear about that can help you understand Japanese a little better. Many of these are well known but I'm going to talk about them for the people who are studying the language and may not know, and for those who may need a refresher, or for those of you who may know nothing about the Japanese language but are interested in learning.

Go Eat Coco Ichibanya

I've talked about fast food chains in Japan that people should go try. Well, Coco Ichibanya deserves its own spotlight because it's that good! It's considered fast food in Japan even though it tastes like real food (America, you know what I'm talking about) and you sit down to eat it. It's a fast, cheap option for a meal that tastes delicious.

Why You Should Plan Your Japan Trip

There are quite a few articles out there on the internet about being spontaneous and just "going where the wind takes you" kind of attitude with traveling abroad. And while that's a great, exciting idea it may not be the best option for a trip to Japan. If you are not familiar with Japan's holidays whether they are well known or not, it may put a bump in your travels. And what about unexpected happenings? Planning is beneficial, no matter how detailed it is.

Top 5 Favorite Drinks in Japan

Something Japan is well known for are their drinks. Everyone knows about their famous vending machines that you can find on almost every corner.This makes grabbing a drink very quick and simple. Most vending machines will have about the same kind of drinks but you'll find a few that have drinks in them that are not as common. Not only in vending machines, but drinks can be purchased at stores and non-traditional Japanese restaurants. So it's pretty easy to get a drink in Japan, hot or cold, but they also have a great selection of various flavors. I'm always surprised by all the flavors they come up with and what you can find. Today, I'm going to share 5 of my favorite drinks in Japan.

Stories From Japan: Lost Gaijin

I had two public talks a few weeks ago. One talk was about manners in Japan and another was on travel in Japan. Both brought up really interesting questions from the attendees. But one question really stuck out to me. "What do you do when your lost?" Now the logical and predictable thing to do is to ask for help, but most people either don't know Japanese to that extent or have no confidence in their Japanese to ask for help. Instead of answering with these replies I simply said "do the lost gaijin look."

Arcades in Japan

There was a time when arcades were popular in America, but they have slowly died out. To me, arcades were rare to find. Then, I went to Japan and my childhood revived and doubled! Japan has many arcades to be enjoyed by people of all ages. They have some arcades that are small and only house one type of machine/game and then there are huge arcades that go above and beyond. I'm going to talk about all the cool games you'll find in a Japanese arcade.

Anime Analysis: Sports Genre Anime

It's been a while since I've done an "anime analysis" post. Anime is not my main focus for my bog but I do love anime and manga, and I do enjoy talking about them so occasionally you'll see an anime related blog post. I didn't really give this "anime analysis" much thought until recently thanks to a few friends of mine from both sides of the spectrum.

I'm going to be casually discussing the workings of the sports genre in anime, and why you should not let one anime ruin your image of all the others (I'll be talking from personal experiences).

Budgeting a Japan Trip

One of the things I always hear from people is that they can't go to Japan because it's too expensive. It's really not that expensive if you know how to budget. I never knew how to budget until I got married. As the bride, traditionally, my parents paid for most of the wedding and its related festivities. They gave me a budget for my wedding that I had to follow and that's how I developed tricks to help me budget. I never thought to relate my budgeting experience with a trip to Japan, but I see how my budgeting method can help people get to Japan.

Eating at Gion Gyuzen

This is a restaurant recommendation if you ever go to Kyoto, Japan. When many people think of eating out in Japan, they usually think of sushi or ramen. There's more to Japan than sushi or ramen, and it would be a shame if you didn't get to experience that. I'm going to introduce a restaurant called Gion Gyuzen, an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu and sukiyaki restaurant.

Japanese Duolingo Review

Right now is the age of using the computer and phone apps. Old methods of studying are no longer practiced as much as they used to be. I'm not very fond of phone apps myself, as I get bored with them easily. I'm the kind of person that learns best using flashcards and textbooks. I used plenty of apps to try and improve my Japanese. Some work and I still fiddle with today, and some I have left behind feeling disappointed with all the hype they received. Today I'm going to be talking about a new section of a not so new language learning app called Duolingo. Duolingo has just released their Japanese course on their app which is a big deal since their only Asian language they had before was Vietnamese. I tried Duolingo out for a week straight and have overall enjoyed my experience with it. Even though I am fond of it, it still has its flaws just like every other learning app.

Best Kobe Beef Experience

I am not a steak person at all. If my family was ever cooking steak I would either choose hamburgers or pizza instead. I never liked the texture of steak. But somethings that I've always heard was that Kobe beef melts in your mouth. So I decided to try it out for myself.

Stories From Japan: Something Sweet

My husband and I went to visit Nagano this last Japan trip for the first time. We had a lot of fun with the area that you can read here. When my husband and I visit Japan I'm usually using my Japanese to get us around or to talk to people if my husband doesn't start using his phone first. My Japanese is pretty good for getting around in Japan and making small conversation, but sometimes I do slip up and say the wrong thing. This is that kind of story.

Monkey Mountain in Kyoto

Animals are really popular in Japan for both locals and tourists. Not only does Japan have animal cafes but they have outdoor attractions that are geared towards animal lovers. I've already talked about the deer of Nara and the snow monkeys of Nagano. Now I'd like to talk about another place that I feel is a bit underappreciated, and that's Monkey Mountain in Kyoto.

Considering Where to go in Japan

Planning out a trip to Japan can be very stressful and require a lot of time. I'm here to make the process a little easier for you. I've already written a post about how to plan the trip that you can check out by clicking here. Right now I'm only talking about where you should go in Japan. I can easily tell you my suggestions but that's not going to help you. I'm going to help you figure out where you should go according to several factors that will play a big part in your trip. I got this topic idea from a reader who asked me a question similar to this, so thank you reader!!

Exploring Nara, Japan

Nara Prefecture is south of Kyoto and east of Osaka Prefecture. We'll be talking about the city of Nara today. It is an ancient city, as it used to be Japan's capital. It's a small city but still significant for it's history and tourist attractions.

When planning your trip to Japan keep in mind to stop by Nara. It's a stop on almost every guided tour in Japan. It won't require you to be there all day, probably just a few hours, so you won't have to book another hotel. Nara is a great day trip to take. To reduce travel time you'll want to travel to Nara from either Osaka or Kyoto, as those are the closest. When traveling to Nara, get off at Nara Station. From the station you can walk to the one place I'm recommending you to visit, and that's Nara Deer Park.

Snow Monkey Park in Nagano

When my husband and I were planning for our trip to Japan we had a few times on our to-do list that we have never done before. One of the things we wanted to do was to go up to Nagano to stay at an onsen (hot spring resort) and visit the Snow Monkey Park. Once we landed in Japan we stayed the night in Tokyo but headed out to Nagano in the morning by shinkansen (bullet train). We left at about 10 A.M. and arrived at Nagano station by noon.

My Favorite Shounen Manga

I previously wrote a blog on my favorite manga that are all shojo series which you can read here. I mostly read shojo manga because I get the whole story from the manga unlike the anime that usually stops short. It's the opposite for shounen series. I usually watch shounen anime and barely read the manga. Most of the shounen series involves fighting anyway so I rather just watch the action happen than look though pages. I will consider a series good if it has a great plot. If the series has no plot I just can't get into it. Since this is titled as favorites you know these series I'm about to mention have to be good because I'm super picky about shounen series.

Please keep in mind my list will only consist of series that I have read, so your favorite may not be on this list.

My Favorite Manga

A while ago I posted about keeping a manga collection which you can read about here. That led up to people asking what my favorite manga are. Now you can say I love all my manga because that's why I own them but I clearly love some more than others. I know this because there are series I tend to read over and over again without getting bored. So this list consists of manga I love, that I have read more than 20 times. There are manga that I can recommend to anybody!

Survival Japanese

You don't need to know Japanese to travel in Japan, but it sure does help a lot if you do know some Japanese (and it would be appreciated by Japanese people since some are scared of foreigners due to the language barrier). Unless you are a linguistic genius, it'll usually take people years to learn Japanese.
But what if you have an opportunity to go travel in Japan soon than later? How will you be able to learn Japanese in that limited amount of time? You can't, and that's why I'm here to tell you the survival Japanese you should remember. I did a post on the Japanese you should know if you're trying to learn but this article is going to be talking specifically about Japanese that will make or break you in Japan.

My Cosplay Experience

When you learn about anime, you learn about cosplay.

I would look up pictures from anime series on Google and would get cosplay pictures in the mix. I knew it existed but never thought I would get to experience cosplay for myself. It wasn't until 2010 that started cosplaying - when two college friends who were veteran cosplayers were talking about cosplaying from Ah! My Goddess, the first manga I ever read. It was a sign!

Trying Kit-Kats from Japan

As a child I always loved Kit-Kats. The chocolate had a distinct flavor than all the other chocolate candy. But then I went to Japan for the first time and my love for Kit-Kats deepened. I never knew Kit-Kats were so popular in Japan that they had more than 40 flavors existing. My goal is to eat as many different flavors of Kit-Kats as possible. I've eaten a few Kit-Kats before I started blogging: green tea, green tea sakura, pudding, sweet potato and brown rice tea. I recently went back to Japan and knew I wanted to add to my Kit-Kat experience, and I always look for flavors I know I can't get at an Asian market back home. Here are three Kit-Kats I discovered while in Japan.

The Difficulties of a Japanese Apartment

Living in Japan may seem fun at first glance, but there are some difficulties to it if you are not prepared enough for the big changes. Apartments are already difficult enough, as it is not yours to own which means you have to play by your landlord's rules, but I find apartments in Japan can be a bit more difficult because of the obvious language and cultural barriers (if present). I'm going to share with you the difficulties you should watch out for with apartments in Japan. This is not only for people who are renting a living space in Japan but also for people who are just visiting but using an apartment to temporarily stay with services such as Airbnb (I did a separate blog post on that topic).

Airbnb in Japan

During my stay in Japan this past November I got the chance to try out Airbnb for the first time. It was ideal as I was trying to lower the budget for the trip. I didn't know much about Airbnb but heard of a few other people using it and seemed to like it. I'm going to assume Airbnb will be different in other countries, so please only regard this article if you are interested in staying in an Airbnb in Japan. Staying at an Airbnb in Japan was an experience, not good or bad, just an experience that I have learned from.

Cherry Blossom Season in Japan

Spring is here! Where I'm from there's no spring season, just summer and a fake winter. As you can imagine I don't get to enjoy nice weather too often. So being able to experience spring in Japan was a special moment for me. Not only was the weather nice but I got the chance to see the cherry blossoms up close in a Japanese setting (I say this because the U.S. has cherry blossom trees that were gifted from Japan, but it's totally not the same). Cherry blossoms are a big part of spring in Japan, but there are many other things that come with the spring season that accompany these iconic flowers.

What Would I Miss if I Moved to Japan

I get asked some weird and random questions from people (at least they're weird and random to me). And I've expressed on my blog and in public to people that my chances of moving to Japan are slim to none due to the direction I've chosen for my life which I'm happy with. But I still get asked the weirdest questions even though I have stated several times that I will never be moving to Japan; it's just not in my cards. Well, that just doesn't seem to matter to some people because I just got asked by a friend a few days ago what I would miss the most if I ever moved to Japan.

Now, I've seen YouTubers from Japan talk about what they miss from their home country and that makes sense because they've been living in Japan for years, not knowing when they will or if they will be leaving. For someone like me who isn't living in Japan and does not plan to move to Japan, I'm not sure if I can really answer this question to the best of my ability. But today, I will try!

Note: I'm only going to mention things or places. Missing family and friends is a given if you have some kind of heart in your body.

Using the Japan Rail Pass

In November, I got to use the Japan Rail Pass for the first time. I can confidently say I will never travel without it again. It made traveling throughout Japan easy, convenient, and stress-free. It was literally "pick a place, and go!"

Keeping a Manga Collection

I have many hobbies, some more expensive than others. One of these hobbies are collecting manga.

Short story: I started collecting manga in middle school when I friend introduced to me.

Pokemon Center in Japan

There are many fun and exciting things to do in Japan. One of the stops I need to make when I'm in Japan is to a Pokemon Center. There are many across Japan, each store having its own special items from the region along with standard item in every store. The Pokemon Center is my chance to stock up on Pokemon merchandise that you can't get in any of the stores in America, or anywhere else for that matter. Last year, the Pokemon Center has made it available for people to purchase their merchandise online which you can check out here (please note that the website is still very limited in what you can buy). These items are of a greater quality than any other place that has Pokemon merchandise available. For me, that would be Toys R' Us and their selection is nothing compared to the Pokemon Center. Not only to purchase items, but to just step into a Pokemon Center is an experience if you are Pokemon fan like me. The store just takes your breathe away with all it has to offer. Let's just say most of my spending money for Japan goes to the Pokemon Center, and I'll show you why.

How to Enjoy Japan at the Airport before Leaving

Leaving Japan can be one of the saddest parts of your Japan trip. You just spent time exploring parts of the country and now you travel to the airport in order to wait for your flight back home. Your time at the airport doesn't have to be sad. The airport has a lot to offer before leaving Japan. I've departed from two airports in Japan so far: Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka and Narita International Airport (NRT) in Chiba Prefecture. For the sake of this blog post I'll be discussing the Narita Airport which is the most popular airport to be used for travel to and from Japan.

Anime Cafes in Japan

While in Japan, I had the opportunity to experience an anime cafe. My love for Japan started off with anime and manga, so it only seemed natural that I'd want to visit an anime cafe. I always saw them in other articles and pictures and just knew I had to go for myself. Anime cafes are typical cafes but they feature some sort of anime, mostly popular anime. The food, drinks and venue will correspond with the anime theme. These cafes usually have cafe type foods, so don't expect any Japanese food at these places. The big hype about anime cafes is the fact that it celebrates anime.

Weird English in Japan

There are times when Japan intentionally tries to have English available and when they're just trying to sound cool. When it comes to English for menus and such, they typically get it right. But when English is used in fashion or advertisement it can go all wrong. Many of you may be familiar with shirts in Japan that have an English phrase on it. For the most part, you understand what they mean but it still sounds weird. I don't have photos of that because I resisted going shopping (except the Pokemon Center. Blew all my money there). I did go out to eat a lot, and that's where the funny advertisements come in. I found two signs in Japan, both outside of restaurants, that just didn't make sense to me. Maybe you'll understand what's trying to be said more than I do.