On December 7, 1970 in Warsaw, Poland, West Germany’s Prime Minister Willy Brandt laid a wreath and fell to his knees at a monument commemorating the lives lost during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. His gesture, appearing to be both spontaneous and genuine, came to symbolize the acknowledgement of past wrongs. Brandt’s act, although unpopular with…
We’ve all been there; falling asleep as a lecturer drones on, yawning as a fascinating life story is told as a monotonous forty minute speech with fully four slides, texting instead of concentrating when a speaker waxes lyrical about his pet project using more acronyms than exist in the United Nations… Poor presentation skills seem…
Thanks to everyone who came and made the two sake tasting days a success. For those who didn’t come, here’s a rundown of what went on January 25th and 26th. Feel free to use this itinerary to go on your own! Follow us virtually on this map! We met at Mikage station at 11:30 am,…
Along with a lot of other ALTs, sumo wrestling is on my (very long) list of “things to see†while in Japan. Luckily, Hyogo is right next to Osaka, one of only four cities in the country to host Grand Turnament competitions. Tickets went on sale February 2nd and a good friend was kind enough…
Looking for your next beach vacation? Vietnam consistently ranks as one of the top destinations, offering a cultural smorgasbord, complete with a distinct cuisine sure to please any foodie’s palette. And it’s all possible at a budget backpacker’s rate of less than 2500 yen/ day. I’ll try not to bore you with the typical itinerary…
Our travels are taking us further and further afield, this time down the coast to Wakayama-ken! Kimii-dera is temple number two on our pilgrim quest. The only temple farther south on our list than Kimii-dera is temple number one, Seiganto-ji, deep in Wakayama. Getting to Kimii-dera takes some doing, but in cherry blossom season it’s…
Last month we had our biggest book club yet, over 20 people took over the ever-so welcoming Bo Tambourine Café in Kobe to share their many opinions on Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being. The novel runs two stories side by side, Ruth an author who reads the diary of Nao, a Japanese…
        When my boyfriend, Chris, first arrived in Japan, he didn’t have a job in hand. He found one rather quickly—within about 6 weeks—but there were still a few months between his hiring and start dates, so he decided to sign up for WWOOF Japan and work on…
This article is brought to you through a partnership between the Heart of Japan blog, a project by　the Hyogo International Association, and the Hyogo Times. If you’re looking for a day-trip hike in the Hanshin Area, around the cities of Osaka, Kobe, Nishinomiya, or Amagasaki, I recommend heading out to Mt. Kabuto (possibly named…