Kansai is the part of Japan containing the cities Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. Kobe city is famous for the immense damage it received during the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995.

The Kansai area is far from the epicentre of Friday's quake and it was barely felt by most residents. However, this hasn't stopped panic buying in local supermarkets. Perhaps residents are expecting an escalation in the number of quakes across the country or it could be that they have just realised how...

Chris_D

This is a conversation I had with Haruto, a 24 year old university student from Osaka, who was job hunting in Tokyo on the day of the earthquake.

Me: So you said you went to some company seminars in Tokyo. When was that?

Haruto: Oh, last Friday.

Me: Last Friday? That was the day of the big earthquake!

Haruto: Yeah, let me tell you about it. I was in the seminar and at around 2:50 I felt the earthquake.

Me: It must have felt...

Chris_D

Well not really but I've been doing some guest posts over at yonasu.com recently. Yonasu is a Japanese culture blog by Jonas, a man perhaps best known for his love of cute Japanese girls. I can't fault him over that!

My guest posts so far are:

Tofukuji Temple – Autumn Leaves in Kyoto - Hey, it's that time of year again . Take a look at some beautiful photos I took on a crisp autumn day in Kyoto.

Vending Machines - Some of the more interesting vending...

Chris_D

To set the scene, being from Australia, one of the typical opening questions I'll ask a group of young students is "Do you like kangaroos?". The answer is almost always yes because almost all Japanese think that kangaroos are cute and loveable (obviously having never been kicked in the face by one). My followup question is "Do you like to eat kangaroo steak?", insinuating that us Australians like a nice grilled piece of roo. Unsurprisingly, the answers range from "I've never...

Chris_D

Lately the posters below have been appearing in trains on my local line, featuring Hikaru Utada looking gorgeous in a black dress accompanied by a picture of a Pepsi NEX bottle with the text 「やっぱり、これが好き」(After all, this is what I like).


It seems that Hikaru is starring in a new Pepsi ad campaign...

Chris_D