Conde House Japan– Author –
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Fun Ways to Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Japan
【What we do for Christmas in Japan】 Almost all the cities are filled with Christmas decorations in this season, though the percentage of the Christian population is only 1% in Japan. As I wrote before, we are good at cream-skimming oth... -
How to Survive the World in the Era of Magic
【Many things are black-boxed to us】 Once upon a time, fortune-tellers, exorcists, or shaman offered prayers to forecast the weather, cure diseases, etc. That would look primitive, idyllic, and non-scientific to people today including m... -
Must-visit French Restaurant in Hokkaido
Kiyomi Mikuni is the most famous Japanese chef born in Hokkaido. He grew up in extreme poverty. Soon after graduating from junior high school, he started to work for a rice dealer for free meals and the opportunity for attending a night cooking school. In Hokkaido, there are some restaurants supervised by him. Fratello Di Mikuni is one of them. -
Why You Shouldn’t Miss Sapporo Snow Festival and Asahikawa Winter Festival
【What is done cannot be undone】 More than 30 years ago, Japanese main railway operations were run by the government. Since the full privatization, many rail lines have been abandoned especially in rural areas like here in Hokkaido. If ... -
How to Make a Value Shift and New Hierarchy
【Toyota Prius was just in time for the 21st century】 Do you know the animation movie, Astro Boy? It was released in Hollywood in 2009, though it wasn't a big hit. The origin of the movie is a Japanese classic comic book. The story was ... -
Hokkaido vs. Other Ski Destinations: What Makes It Special?
【Real estate bubble in Niseko】 Ginza is the area in Tokyo well known as a luxury area. The above image (the thumbnail image) is Ginza 4th block's intersection. The area holds the highest land price record in Japan: about 500,000 USD/sq... -
Cosmic Latte: Do You Know the Color of the Universe?
What color do you think the universe is? Black? Colorless and transparent? The universe is always seen above the sky at night, but I guess it has never crossed your mind. New and hot stars look blue; old and cold stars red. If the colors of those stars are mixed and equalized, the color of the universe will look beige. -
What Are the Basic Human Values? We’re Useless If Productivity Is Most Important
【The days of Kaizen activities are like the highlight of Apollo 13】 The spaceship was about to penetrate the atmosphere in the shortage of electric power. The crews and the ground staff of NASA knew enough about it. While running out o... -
Simple Rules for Enjoying Your First Japanese Onsen
Let me tell you the first rule of Hot-spring club: Bathe three times at least. Averagely, we Japanese people bathe three times for a stay of one night: Soon after check-in, before going to bed, and soon after getting up next morning. Accordingly, we can enjoy a sunset, night sky, and sunrise in an open-air bath. -
What Is Originality? Don’t Try to Be Unique If You Want to Be Unique
【Originality is a characteristic only of a genius】 A student in the art class challenged his teacher, saying "it's meaningless to learn art. Art is something to feel, and our originality may be stunted by learning. " The teacher answer...