What's Jappening?

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...