Must-Visit in Japan– category –

There are so many hidden gems in Hokkaido. You can see beautiful scenery e.g.; lakes, mountains, forest, sea and so on. I would like to share some gems in Hokkaido. 【Must visit in eastern part of Hokkaido】 Lake Akan is a beautiful crat...

Why does the Scottish folk song "Auld Lang Syne" make Japanese people instantly flee? I explore the Pavlovian closing signal ("Hotaru no Hikari"), only to pivot to the actual fireflies in Hokkaido. From a surreal night in the JSDF to Asahikawa’s successful community effort to reclaim natural beauty, I argue that the magic of a cool summer night is the best reason to avoid the heat of mainland Japan.

The biggest festival of design and creativity in Hokkaido was back! Why do we need real communication events like this, though it's not good in efficiency? If efficiency is prioritized most, we have no other choice but to stop living our lives.

You spend 52 minutes a day gossiping. Is that a bad thing? I analyze the social genetics of gossip through the lens of Yuval Noah Harari's theories, arguing it is a necessary human survival mechanism. Discover why online chat fails to satisfy this deep need, and why June in Hokkaido—outside the rainy season—is the best place to reconnect and engage in genuine, face-to-face "gossip."

What if there's a museum where you can see all the masterpieces of art at a time? Like Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, Guernica by Pablo Picasso, etc. Of course, I know they are exhibited in different museums in Paris, Tokyo, and Madrid respectively, but there is one such what-if place in Japan.

Do you know what we used as a point of reference to find stag beetles gather? It's acorns. Yes, it's oak trees where stag beetles are gathered. In Hokkaido, there are many oak trees, and they grow not only stag beetles but also the industry of whisky and furniture.

Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido, is famous as a place for test marketing. Many businesses test pre-release products because its age structure of population is almost the same as that of the whole country. In addition, the city has no strong characteristics or specific tendency in culture; the people are considered to like new things. Maybe it's because Hokkaido doesn't have a long history, different from other areas in the main land of Japan.