A friend is coming to Japan in early 2024 and asked for recommendations off the beaten path. Thought I would share broadly here is as well. A thread of slightly unusual winter outings: 1) start the new year off in Kyoto and on Jan 4 head to Shimogamo Shrine for a demonstration of kemari, an ancient version of soccer that was popular amongst members of the court in the Heian period

It’s Halloween weekend and that means it’s time for everyone’s favorite Japanese festival Jimi Halloween, where people dress up in costumes so mundane they have to be explained. Let’s dive in 🧵 Shop attendant trying really hard to look away as you enter your PIN number

https://twitter.com/sakurajimanini/status/1586513451274248192

Amazon's acquisition of Roomba reminded me of an article I read 10 years ago about why Japan missed out on the robotic cleaning industry. For a country obsessed with cleanliness and with a major consumer electronics industry it seemed like a perfect fit to me. 🧵 “We have the technology,” said a Panasonic insider back then. As to why these electronics giants were never able to develop robotic cleaners? The reason was a lot more Japanese: risk-averseness.

Caught an interesting discussion between interviewer Osamu Hayashi and restauranteur Shunsuke Inada talking about Japanese food and the Japanese restaurant industry.

a few highlights (short thread, probably)
Biggest takeaway is that Japan’s restaurant industry is plagued by deflated pricing

There’s a lot of shops run by folks who have paid off their loans and live off their pension. For them, profitability is not a priority. They prefer to feed their customers well, at low prices.

All right ya’ll buckle up it’s time for this year’s round-up of Japan’s #地味ハロウィン (mundane Halloween) costumes. Outfits so ordinary they have to be explained. Guy who leans in as his Mario Kart character turns a curve:

https://twitter.com/nendooman/status/1454411451272097795

A new volcanic islet has emerged along the Ogasawara island chain, which isn’t that rare. What’s rare is for sunken ships from WWII to emerge with it: Geologists have been monitoring the islet since last month when it appeared and agree that it probably won’t last long. So the ships may also disappear once again.

asahi.com/ajw/articles/1…

A new supersized 3D screen has gone up in Shinjuku. This giant kitty will be featured in between broadcasts.
According to the press release, scheduled programming will begin 7/12: dreamnews.jp/press/00002396… (but I’m just here for the cat)

The exact location: goo.gl/maps/3DZg89mYK…

This is some amazingly comedic footage: today, over 100 police officers raided the Tokyo headquarters of an ultra-leftist group.

First, as they’re trying to saw their way in, the group’s representative just opens a door and is like, dude just use the door

Just what 2020 needed: an ancient burial ground with 1500 remains has been discovered at a redevelopment site in Osaka.
sankei.com/photo/story/ne… researchers suspect this is the Umeda Graves, 1 of 7 historically significant graveyards in Osaka.

It's noted in the top right of this illustration, which depicts a test of courage in which locals would visit all 7 sites in a single day.

The cafe at Izu Shaboten Zoo in Shizuoka, Japan uses stuffed Capybaras to enforce social distancing

(Photos by @chacha0rca) Why Capybaras, you ask? Well this zoo is credited with being the first (in 1982) to introduce the animals to hot baths and ever since then it’s become a thing:
izushaboten.com/kapibara/histo…

Ramen (ラーメン)

We all love it, right? Ultimate comfort food, late-night snack, hangover cure, etc. It's become one of Japan's most popular exports.

Some know that men (麺) means noodle. But what does Ra mean?

THREAD
🍜👇🍜👇🍜👇 Ramen has been around for hundreds of years. But it was relatively recent that it took on the name ramen (ラーメン)

It was originally a Chinese food called chuka-soba or shina-soba (lots of history, not gonna go there right now)