How does strawberry vanilla syrup on top of shaved ice with lots of fruits on a summer day sound to you. Heaven I bet!
History of Shaved Ice or Kakigori in Japan
Kakigori is flavored and shaved ice and a Japanese summer tradition and loved by all young and old people alike. Most people doesn’t know that Kakigori isn’t really a modern treat but it actually has a very long history, dated way back to the times in the Heian period, which is more than a thousand years ago. It even got …

First of all, me and my team here at Japan Uptown wants to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and may you all be blessed with prosperous times ahead and all the best of luck!
Happy 2011 everyone!
New Year celebration is indeed a very big thing in Japan. The Japanese started to adopt the Gregorian calendar five years after the Meiji restoration in 1873. Before that, like all it’s other similar roots countries like Korea and China, they have been adopting the Chinese calendar. Therefore now, 1st of January marks …

A variety of Japanese, called joseigo or onnakotoba, that is typically used by females as a reflection of their femininity. The existence of clearly marked, gender-differentiated language style is the frequently mentioned characteristic of Japanese. Joseigo or feminine language is the words, terms and phrases which are used exclusively by females. This is nothing new to the world since there are several other languages with the same culture, like in French language and Arabian language.
Aside from the high pitch, distinctive voice quality, and particular sentence-final intonations that are associated with …

Sumo, a form of Japanese wrestling began as long as 2000 years ago is considered by many to be the national sport of Japan.
Sumo became the professional sport in the Edo period (1600-1868), and although it is practiced today by clubs in high school, colleges and amateur associations, it has its greatest appeal as a professional spectator sport. Today, the ancient sport is still popular and the best wrestlers are revered as national heroes. The highest ranking players are called Yokozuna or grand champions.
The object of this compelling sport is …

The world has children’s day, however, Japan has been celebrating their little ones since long time ago.
Shichi Go San is a festival to celebrate the children in Japan. It is the coming of children of age seven, five and three. The word ‘Shichi Go San’ itself directly translates to seven-five-three. Shichi Go San is not a national holiday, however, on this day girls of age three and seven, boys age three and five are celebrated. Their parents will have the children dress in elaborated children kimono with traditional obi (for …

It is summer again and it calls for the time of summer festivals in Japan, where there are various kinds of stalls (or yatai), hanabi (fireworks), yukata, beaches and watermelons!
July and August marks the peak of summer in Japan. And in these months Japanese people celebrate summer festivals which may vary from place to place. One such festival is called Obon or Bon Festival which is a Japanese custom festival celebrated as part to honor the deceased spirits of their ancestors. It is actually a customary tradition closely related to …

Washi paper, is probably one of the many basics in numerous Japanese papercrafts and arts.
It is used as foundation in most traditional Japanese arts and papercrafts, which were applied in rituals and daily life of the Japanese people ever since they knew how to make paper on their own. Washi was developed from the traditional Chinese art of paper-making process, and by using their own method, material and some re engineering of the technology, washi is produced.
The word ‘washi’ itself means Japanese paper. ‘Wa’ meaning Japanese and ‘shi’ meaning paper, …