Japan heads back to work on Tuesday in a new era
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 [...]
Celebrate today with some instant ramen
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. [...]
New Year’s celebrations continue this month
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 [...]
Esquif canoes make their Japanese debut
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 [...]
Golden Week 2018
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 [...]
Fuji to Hood collaborations on a sunny spring day
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 [...]
Cherry blossom season in Portland and Japan
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 [...]
Another intriguing Portland / Japan connection…..
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 [...]
Valentine’s Day = chocolate in Japan too!
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 [...]
Another successful Mochitsuki in Portland
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 [...]