Whether you just want to practice, don’t want to bother others with singing out of tune or just for personal enjoyment, there are plenty of reasons going solo at karaoke. „Hitokara“ (hitori: alone, kara: karaoke) is big in Japan.
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If Kawagoe is Tokyo’s Little Edo, Takehara is Hiroshima’s Little Kyoto. In this case though, it’s the town’s tourist department that calls Takehara the „Little Kyoto of Aki Province“.
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For all its traditional temples and shrines, apartment buildings in Japan are usually rather plain and not built to last decades. The Nakagin Capsule Tower is different – it’s one of the few remaining examples of Japanese Metabolism.
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When in Tokyo, I like to try out different vegan or vegetarian restaurants in addition to my mainstays. Nagi Shokudo (なぎ食堂) isn’t located that far from Shibuya Station.
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Bunnies! Of course you can get your fix of bunny-shaped cuteness in one of Tokyo’s bunny cafés, but the number one location for fans of the cute animals is a small island in Hiroshima Prefecture: Okunoshima.
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This is one of the big three festivals in the northern Tohoku region, the other two being the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri and the Akita Kanto Matsuri. They are all held around the same time (early August) too.
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Inakadate is a village in Aomori Prefecture and a population of 8000. Since 1993, the people of Inakadate began creating rice paddy art to promote tourism and revitalize the area.
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After a long time, I could finally make it to another movie meet-up, thus saving the latest Mission Impossible film from its fate of being seen on the small screen. This was also the first time for me being to the new TOHO Cinema in Shinjuku.
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Naoshima is known as the “art island” and has several art museums with exhibits by various well-known artists. The island is also well prepared for tourists with a shuttle bus connecting the various art sites and the port.
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In order to become fluent in Japanese and reach the level of a native speaker, you have to leave the textbook behind at some point. The school I went to (Naganuma) handed out copies of newspaper articles at the advanced level.
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Tokyo German Village is a park in Chiba, located about two hours from central Tokyo. The park offers facilities for families, flower events, a souvenir shop and German food. It’s not an educational place meant to teach you German – in many ways it’s very much a Japanese park.
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