Red Beans

Japanese people love sweetened red beans.  They go well with anything!

You can wrap it with a rice cake or wrap rice cakes with it ;)  It tastes amazing with ice cream, especially the green tea flavor.  An-pan or red bean filled bread is also popular.  

It is not only sweet but it is really healthy too.  People say that they have lots of vitamin B1.  That helps to reduce fatigue, stiff shoulders, muscle ache, etc.

I am sure eating too much would not help so much...but it is good to know that at least it is some way healthy!

Print Club

The photo booth called Print Club in Japan is getting more and more popular.
I used to take photos with my friends and brothers all the time.


Recently the photo booth machine offered "a beautiful skin."
Your face looks really smooth and shiny on the photos.
That is amazing.  I look completely different!
I mean I look how I want my skin to look like in the reality.


Now they have one that makes your eyes bigger!!!
I have never tried this one before, but that is almost like getting plastic surgery virtually.
You will not be able to tell who they are anymore.
I wonder if people use them for driver's license or passport...

Rice Fields

This time of year in Japan, the rice fields get really green and pretty.
I have never seen one in the States, but they must have an amazing scenery as well.
When I visited Bali Island, there were rice fields on mountain slopes and they looked like an art work.
It is always good to eat rice and also wonderful to look at when they grow.
How amazing rice is!
I just love the huge green fields that go on forever like the ocean.

Wet Towel

When you go to restaurants in Japan, the first thing you receive there is the wet towel.  It is for cleaning the hands before the meal.  They are either warm or cold.  This custom is getting known world wide now.  


One day I was at a Japanese restaurant and saw this one father telling his family that Japanese people clean their faces with the towel.  The family was all rubbing their faces...

Now I remember that the culture is learned, integrated and evolved according to anthropology.

Vending Machines

There are many vending machines everywhere in Japan.  I used to buy canned coffee and juice from it all the time.
The vending machines talk too.  They say, "irasshaimase" or "welcome" when you put money and "arigatogozaimashita" or "thank you very much" when you pick a drink.
Mostly they are for soft drinks, but there are vending machines that sell other items.


Here is a photo of a cigarette vending machine.

This one sells alcohol.  You can see Asahi and Kirin.

I could not find photos of the others, but I have seen ones with ice cream, rice, magazines, and other products.  It is convenient that you don't need to be in a line at a store.

Cell Phones

Most of us in the States cannot live without our cell phones now days.
The same is definitely true in Japan.
The only difference is that people absolutely love decorating their phones there.
I have some cell phones with decorations here in the US but the ones in Japan are way busier!
A lot of Japanese girls love their cell phones to have rhinestones and flowers.  There are shops where they specialize in decorating cell phones.

Some people have too much decoration and the cell phone itself looks smaller.

I guess you can never lose your cell phone this way then ;)