BURA TORA

Why is Japan obsessed with food

August 15, 2019, Posted by : James

There are very few foreigners who cross the pond and manage to spend several years in the land of the rising sun without falling head over heels for the food. On occasion i'll hear of a traveler that doesn't like Japanese food, but it's pretty hard not to like it after a couple years.

If somebody asked me to describe what makes a dish Japanese food in a technical way, I ...

Second tour in ‘nam

August 07, 2019, Posted by : James

One of the great conveniences of living in a travel hub like Tokyo, or Hong Kong, is that flights to southeast asia are really affordable.

Even though i'm planning on leaving Japan within the next 6 months, one of the main things that i'm going to miss is my bi-yearly foreign trips to random foreign countries in Asia. Not to mention the added trips across the pond to South Korea, ...

Renting in Japan

August 03, 2019, Posted by : James

Renting

One small detail few people will share to wide-eyed foreigners looking to move to Japan is the fact that it's really hard to find decent housing around Tokyo. It's difficult even for Japanese people, but the problems are compounded for foreigners.

The first thing that comes as a bit of a surprise is the rei-kin system. Before ever setting foot in your ...

Japanese Karaoke Songs

March 18, 2019, Posted by : James

Of the few Japanese words that have made it into the English vernacular, "Karaoke", in close competition with "sushi" and "Nintendo", is likely the most widely known. While you may know exactly what English songs you prefer to sing, it's often a surprise to many first time visitors to Japan that Japan has a vast sea of songs that every Japanese person knows. ...

Bomb-ass Niigata Rice

August 08, 2018, Posted by : James

One luxury afforded the Japan resident is the opportunity to become a rice snob. An argument could certainly be made for the benefits of focusing one's snobbery on sake, or another rice-based alcohol, but I fancy myself a contrarian. For the last few years, i've been ordering nothing but 5 kg sacks of rice from a place called  辰巳屋米店 (Tatsumi-ya Kome-ten)  in Niigata. If you're ...