I received one reply to my previous post on the issue of ‘Ohaguro’ or Black Teeth Custom, which was once a very popular custom in the ancient Japan. The question pertain to the reason as to why the practice was banned in the Meiji period, well, instead of replying straight, I find this is a very interesting issue to discuss and research on and so I did, and decided to write a post on it. By the way, you can read more on the introduction from my previous post titled …

In many hot spring resorts in Japan (called as ‘onsen’), you will be able to fine onsen eggs – which basically is boiled eggs.
These onsen eggs are made by dipping the eggs in the very hot onsen water. Most onsen eggs are soft-boiled and the weird part is that most of the time the yolk is harder than the white. A natural miracle? You can perhaps say so since this is not the normal phenomenon of soft-boiled egg where you will have the whites harder than the yolk. But if …

Honestly speaking, Japan is not only a country that is unique naturally, but also in the modern context, Japan excelled as a country that produces a lot of exotic brand names and products. If you’ve ever been to Japan for some time, you will probably get used to seeing a lot of vending machines and almost anywhere. These vending machines sell a wide range of product types and one of them are soft drinks and beverages, which also came with unique and bizarre names. One of it is an energy …

Yellow teeth are a real turn off, but black teeth are a major turn on, for the ancient Japanese people at least. Ohaguro simple means to blacken the teeth.
It is an old Japanese custom that was so popular centuries ago in Japan, and up to the Meiji period at the end of the 19th century. If you’re lucky enough, you could probably catch a glimpse of this black teeth phenomenon in Kyoto nowadays by Geisha ladies. In the olden days, most married Japanese women, some aristocrats, samurai and even those …

Are you wondering of how people in Japan celebrate Halloween? But the question is whether they do celebrate it or not, right?
Well, it’s really hard to say but the rising cosplay trends in Japan may have something to contribute to the celebration of Halloween in Japan. However, one of the common activities on the event are the ones usually held in Tokyo Disneyland and Osaka Universal Studio every year and there will always be a surprising number of people, usually young adults and teenagers who participated in the events.
In …

The most expensive cat in history would probably be the all time favorite character – Hello Kitty, which is adored by female especially from varying age groups. Being a little too weak to cute and cuddly things have really gotten me a little smitten with this really popular and cute cat. Anyhow, I just love and adore cats! Mieow~
Hello Kitty is a fictional character which portrays a white female cat wearing a red bow on one ear and with no drawn mouth. It was and still is produced by Sanrio, …

Japan may be facing a declining birth rate, but not in the number of vending machines available in the country. In just no more than 4 years, there has been an additional of 100,000 more vending machines of all kinds available nationwide in Japan. In 2006, the number of vending machines was roughly 5.4 millions and in the year 2009, the figure has reached 5.5 million. Ratio is about one vending machine for every 20 people living in Japan.
Vending machines are called as ‘Jidou-hanbaiki‘ in Japan. These intelligent machines are …