Ja(a)pan - Page 22 of 43 - A blog about Tokyo, traveling and yes, penguins

12. January 2009 Mia Jaap naganuma

Almost Korea

Class started again and after a seemingly endless time at the middle level, I mastered the Unit Test and got my ticket for the advanced level. What’s special about the advanced level?

Life in Japan

31. December 2008 Mia Jaap New Year

New Year in Japan: Surprise party!

Today is the 31st of December which is like an obligation to do something. Unlike western countries, there is no loud noise when the year ends and no fireworks.

meetup tokyo travel

28. December 2008 Mia Jaap

Water Walk #1 Oji

One of the interesting new meet-up groups is the water walk meet-up. It follows the places presented in the book

tokyo

27. December 2008 Mia Jaap video

Balance of things/Toshi-no ichi

Toshi-no ichi or year-end fairs are held at various places these days. I visited the one at the Fudoson Temple

lights tokyo

25. December 2008 Mia Jaap illumination, shibuya

Capsule music trees and humans

Harajuku station is not so far away from Shibuya station so I took a walk rather than using the Yamanote.

lights tokyo

25. December 2008 Mia Jaap harajuku, illumination

Ruby Christmas: Omotesando Hills Illumination Event

This year, with me staying home in Tokyo, I went to another illumination event: “Ruby Christmas” in Omotesando Hills. Omotesando Hills is a window shopping paradise.

lights tokyo

24. December 2008 Mia Jaap illumination, roppongi

Roppongi Hills and Midtown illumination

Roppongi has two illumination events to offer, one near Roppongi Hills and the other near Tokyo Midtown.

tokyo

23. December 2008 Mia Jaap video

Rants and Digital Snowfall (video link)

You may think that reindeers are incredibly rare in big cities such as Tokyo. Well, not so much I guess,

tokyo

23. December 2008 Mia Jaap emperor, video

The Emperor’s Birthday

Today I was invited to a birthday party – well, literally everyone was invited. The 23rd of December is Tenno Tanjoubi, The Emperor’s Birthday.

lights tokyo

21. December 2008 Mia Jaap illumination

Lightopia illumination festival: Sea of Cups

Tokyo is full of illumination events these days, but most of them end on December 25th. Lightopia is held near

movie tokyo

20. December 2008 Mia Jaap meetup

Movie meet-up: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Last movie meet-up for this year! Keanu Reeves latest film has received a lot of attention lately and is used by LG in their commercials for a new handset. The film is of course a remake of the 50’s science-fiction classic with a bigger robot, more explosions and more annoying kids.