Every year on the long weekend of October, Hyogo AJET hosts an annual rafting trip in Kochi with Happy Raft. It’s a wet and wild weekend in the stunning surrounds of rural Japan and certainly a unique way to experience one of this fair country’s hidden gems. The trip is generally open to around…
Despite being accident prone for most of my life, I have done an astounding job of avoiding hospital stays. While I may have had a brief brush with the emergency ward after breaking my collarbone at age five I have never actually had to do an overnight stay. Until now that is. Still making it…
Japan is a mystical land full of wonders, mysteries and all things kawaii. No place in Japan quite encapsulates all of these things the way Okunoshima aka “Bunny Island†does. Originally used as a research facility for biological weapons during World War II, the island was kept secret and the rabbits its test subjects….
Japan is perhaps one of the most intriguing travel destinations the world has to offer. However after living here for nearly two years I can safely say that once you’ve done the major tourist rounds and found your own handful of hidden gems, you begin to look across the water. As an Australian…
Finally the winter months have begun to thaw and the first hints of spring are in the air, what bliss. For Japan, it means that the peak of the seasonal calendar is soon at hand. That’s right: It’s cherry blossom season and that means hanami parties. Between mid-March and early May, sakura trees bloom throughout…
When travelling in Japan as a tourist, getting around is easy. The rail pass makes travel a breeze and the tourist tracks are clear and well-travelled. However, it is once you become a resident that you realize that travelling within Japan is a lot more convoluted and expensive that it originally seemed, especially if…
The Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 has widely been regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in Japan’s recent history. Over six thousand lives were lost and there were billions of dollars in damages. However, in all the chaos and pain something beautiful and bright began. The Italian government donated over 200,000 painted…
The annual Shikoku rafting trip has, over the past few years, become a permanent fixture in the Hyogo AJET calendar, and with good reason. Each year, between 20 and 25 JETs from Hyogo head out into the remote wilderness of a place called Happy Raft in Kochi prefecture to enjoy a wet and wild…
 So you’ve finally made it through all the self-introductions and slightly awkward Q&A sessions with your new students. Congratulations! Now it’s time for the real fun to begin: you’re going to have to actually teach for real now. What a joy. For those of you feeling more or less paralyzed by fear and…