Japan is enjoying a longer than usual Golden Week holiday this year with an unprecedented 10 days off from work. Golden Week is made possible because four national holidays fall within days of each other in late April and early May. This year however, also included the imperial transition on April 30th and May 1st. The 30th marked the end [...]
On this day in 1910, Momofuku Ando was born. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 96 but his legacy lives on and has spread throughout the world. That is because he invented instant ramen in 1958 and the company he founded, Nissin Food Products, debuted Cup Noodles in Japan in 1971. Mr. Ando can be credited with [...]
There's no reason why New Year's should only be celebrated on January 1st. In Portland, there are two more upcoming events to mark the OshÅgatsu season: JASO's New Year's event on January 17th and Mochitsuki on January 27th. Both are great ways to celebrate and reconnect with friends in the community as well as enjoy a lot of tasty holiday [...]
An outdoor retail chain in Hokkaido wanted Canadian-made Esquif canoes. The Quebec-based company had canoes ready to for export. Yet somehow, the canoes never made their way to Japan despite considerable consumer interest. Enter Hokusei North America to manage purchasing, logistics and export and within a few months, Esquif canoes made their Japanese debut. Attached is some recent press about [...]
If you're visiting Japan right now, you've likely noticed the bigger than usual crowds at popular tourist destinations, the fully booked hotels and the packed trains. All are because of Golden Week which lasts from April 28th to May 6th in 2018. This is a popular time for Japanese to take time off from work and travel because four national [...]
Yesterday was arguably Portland's best weather of the year so far. It was the perfect setting for the first annual Fuji to Hood Japan/ Portland Collaboration Beer Festival. Ten Portland breweries along with one local cidery teamed up with brewers and cider makers from Japan to create collaborations for the event. https://fujitohood.com All ten of the featured beers incorporated Japanese [...]
The cherry blossoms are looking beautiful around the Portland area this week but as is often the case, the weather likely won't allow for a sunny, warm and dry hanami (flower viewing) picnic. The situation in southern and central Japan may be a little more conducive to hanami this weekend as the forecast calls for sunny weather. Look here for [...]
Earlier this month, the Willamette Week published a list of "Reasons to love Portland right now." Coming in at number 9 was the very intriguing possibility of Japanese architect Kengo Kuma designing major new construction in the South Waterfront are of downtown. Undoubtedly, significant negotiations would need to take place to accommodate these proposed towers which are nearly twice as [...]
There are only 3 days until Valentine's Day and surely the chocolate companies in the US are looking forward to a spike in sales. The same is true in Japan where an estimated $500,000,000 is spent on Valentine's chocolates each year. However, in a departure from the stereotypical American Valentine's Day pattern, the vast majority of chocolate is given by [...]
Congratulations to the 2018 Mochitsuki 2018 team for another successful event! This past Sunday marked the 22nd annual occurrence of this favorite Portland family activity. Mochitsuki has come a long way from its humble start in the basement of Oregon Buddhist Temple. The celebration now draws thousands of attendees and has to be held at Portland State University to accommodate [...]