What's Jappening?

Last week, most students in England went back to school/university after their Easter holidays. I unfortunately missed out on this two week break, but instead have been granted Japan's springtime equivalent - Golden Week. This 9 day period that was introduced in 1948 grants not only students but many workers the opportunity to travel, spend time with friends and family and partake in activities such as picnics or a spot of tourism. It falls during the end of April and beginning of May, and encompasses a total of four national holidays; Shōwa Day, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day and Children's Day. Here is a bit of insight into these four days: 29th April - Shōwa Day Originally a day to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Hirohito who reigned from 1926-1989, but after his death in 1989, it was renamed Greenery Day because of his love of nature. In 2007, it was eventually named Shōwa Day to celebrate both the late emperor and the work put into rebuilding the county as w...

In the past couple of weeks, we've had a few days of very heavy rain and, as a result, the rice fields are starting to fill up. As someone who is most acquainted with nature through the medium of David Attenborough and the like, it's very exciting for me to see the baby shoots starting to appear first hand and the changes that come with that, such as...lobsters? I was walking into uni last week when my razor sharp eyes picked up on what appeared to be a small, red lobster moving in a paddy puddle. After mentioning it to a teacher at the uni, she confirmed that lobsters do, indeed live in rice fields. Mind. Blown. (at this point, I should probably apologise for the terrible photo that I took, bit in my defence, those things are really small!) Introducing Procambarus Clarkii. More commonly known as 'Red Swamp Crayfish' of 'American Crayfish', these freshwater crustaceans were introduced from America in the 1920's as a food source for bullfrogs and have sin...

Today my landlady, her husband and her sister invited myself and the other international students out to go see the cherry blossoms. Cherry blossom (Or sakura) season is world renowned for it's stunning pink blossoms accompanied by pleasant weather and seasonal sakura-themed products. Honestly, I expected it to be pretty overrated, I mean, I know blossoms are pretty, but there's no need to get overexcited!  Well let me just say: I was wrong. It's not just the blossoming trees, It's the way all the trees seem to bend over the river bed as if they, like me, are watching the koi swim around. It's the fluffy, pinky-white blossoms as Far as the eye can see, interspersed with pink lanterns that light up in the evening. It's the bustling streets filled with delicious-smelling food and care-free people. In short, it was lovely. We then sat down, whereupon we were given a dango (sweet, colourful mochi balls on a stick) and taiyaki (a fish-shaped cake filled with r...

Well, flat really. Having successfully unpacked everything into my new home, I'm really starting to feel settled in Nagoya. Though I haven't explored much yet, I've already found loads of interesting differences between living here and living in England: For starters, there's no central heating. There is however, an air-con that can heat up and cool down a room (though not simultaneously, of course). As someone who avidly dislikes the radiator, I thought that I would barely notice the difference, but then a thought occurred to me; where do I hang things that I want to dry a little quicker? I'll have to work that one out... The hot water system is. Genius. Let's say you want to take a shower, you turn the hot water on and set the temperature. Then, when you get in the shower, the hot water heats up as you use it to the exact temperature that you set! No need to fiddle around with knobs and dials to get just the right temperature, you get the perfectly warm ...

I arrived at Nagoya Chubu International Airport two days ago and was immediately bombarded by a whirlwind of information. I was picked up at arrivals by Saki-san who helped me buy a Manaca card (Nagoya's Oyster card equivalent) and then was taken to my new apartment. After being shown around and then left to my own devices, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and go to sleep forever, but I knew that first I had to go to the Conbini (Convenience Store) to buy some food. ... It turns out that being able to read Kana is absolutely useless when you don't know what any of the words mean. And so begins my adventure in Japan, with playing grocery potluck and hoping for the best! Stay tuned to find out everything I do, make and learn whilst I'm here in Japan.