Feels Like Spring in Japan

Spring is just around the corner here in Japan. At least that’s what the stores and shops are telling me! Spring themed products are all over the place. Starbucks Japan has now filled its shelves with Sakura themed cups, tumblers, snacks and drinks and many shops are getting ready for Hina Matsuri 雛祭り (Girl’s Day) and Kodomo no Hi (Children’s/Boy’s Day).

Another telltale sign of the approach of a warmer time is the appearance of “ume” or plum blossoms on the trees. In just a few more weeks the “sakura” or cherry blossoms will start to appear and that is always a great time to start the spring party!
Of course, spring is a time of change everywhere. It is a time for new things and a time for the world to be refreshed. I’m looking forward to the warmer weather and celebrating my first “Hanami” or cherry blossom party with my son.

I thought I’d show you wonderful folks some fun pictures from today, a beautiful day in and around Kobe. It was great day to be in Japan.


Hina Matsuri 雛祭り (Girl's Day) in Japan is just around the corner. Families buy beautiful and expensive displays of dolls to celebrate having a daughter.


Plum blossoms in a local park.


More great plum blossoms in a local park.


A very creative and silly student of mine wrote this on the white board at lunch today. I liked it! I'm a home room teacher from Monday to Friday, but I have a part time ESL job on Saturdays. It's a lot of fun teaching these kids!


I saw a unicycle locked up outside of my apartment today and just thought it an odd sight. I never saw children driving unicycles growing up in Canada. I see it all the time here in Japan. It's like an entire generation with dreams of someday going to clown school!


I was at Toys R' Us this afternoon buying some fun toys for my little son when I saw the display for Hinamatsuri dolls. Check out a little video I made with my iPhone about it:



I also wanted to share a new Japan oriented site with you folks. A friend and fellow Starbucks fan has created a blog dedicated to all things “Starbucks in Japan.” Check it out here. It is a new site and your comments and encouragement will keep a good thing going!

Vacation, Graduation and Life in Japan

It's officially been 1,000,000 years since I've made a post on this blog. Apologies, apologies. I suppose I've been concentrating mostly on work (it is the end of the school year crunch time), making videos for You Tube and organizing the first You Tube met up in Kansai. It's actually going to be tonight in Osaka. Should be a great time. Some of the You Tubers who I knowwill be there include: BusanKevin (moi), kansaipj, kkajapan, sydermurphy, thatjapanesegirl, renoldsair, platonicmojo, jnmorrison, Takarcuka Tim, and many others I'm sure.

Some interesting things have happened recently. March 3rd was Hina Matsuri 雛祭り, or Girl's Day here in Japan. I only have 2 girls in my class, but we used the afternoon to make Hina Matsuri crafts. It was very cute, the boys made their crafts and then gave them to the girls.

Here's a little more info about the festival.

The Japanese Doll Festival-雛祭り

This video was made by Gimmeabreakman, a well-known Japan video blogger.


I'm also very excited about the fact that next Friday will be my last day of work before Spring vacation. The Japanese school year ends in March and begins in April. I'm teaching at an international school, but we use the Japanese school cycle. I'm pretty excited because I'll be heading to South Korea for a vacation with my wife. We're going to Busan for 5 days. I'm really looking forward to it since both my wife and I have many mutual friends still living there. My old band will be having a "reunion" show on Friday, March 20th.

I think the thing I'm most looking forward to when visiting Korea (aside hanging out with my friends) will be the food. I'm really looking forward to filling my stomach with galbi (Korean bbq), anyong jimduk, bibimbap and many other things. I'll stay away from thesoju, but plan to bring a few bottles back to Japan as gifts!

Here's a video of my old band on my last night playing with them before I left Korea 2 years ago.


Hermit Kings in Korea (BusanKevin on drums)

I was the drummer...BusanKevin. For all my You Tube subscribers, now you know why the city "Busan" is in my username.


Recently, I've been enjoying a podcast based in Korea. Seoul Podcast is entertaining and fairly relevant for anyone who teaches in Korea, has taught there or would like to in the future. I'd recommend checking it out. Each podcast is quite long (between 2-3 hours), but interesting. I really enjoy listening to it when I'm out running.

The guy who runs this podcast is a fairly well-known blogger. He has a very cool blog about Korean food. Check out Zen Kimchi.