Japan it UP!
The adventures of an American living in Japan.



Finding a barber shop (May 13)
One of the easiest things to find in Japan is a barber shop or hair salon. Barber shops have the old school barber pole in front. Hair salons usually are bright, or trendy, or they have a person outside handing out flyers. I live downtown and a haircut is costs 4000-5000 Yen for men which [...]


Hiragana - DONE!! (May 6)
I posted back on April 11th about learning Japanese and starting with Hiragana. The following day I went to a Japanese conversational lesson and I had no freaking clue what was going on. The sensei  spoke very little English and the other students were Chinese and were reading Kanji. After class the sensei suggested in [...]


Downloading Nine Inch Nails super fast! (May 6)
A little while ago I was talking about my internet speed here in Japan and I must say that today I’m loving it! I downloaded the latest Nine Inch Nails album in about 45 seconds. Not bad for $50 a month internet service! Here’s a screen shot I took.  


The Gym (May 1)
I mentioned them gym in my post about shrinking. Well, a gym membership is very expensive in Japan. In the U.S. I was a member of Gold’s Gym in the U.S. and paid $25 a month. Before that I paid $50 a month for a bigger gym with more options. Both were open 24 hours [...]


Some bathroom pictures (Apr 30)
Here are some pictures I took of a few toilets here in Japan. I find it interesting how they have traditional toilets, then toilets we use in America, and how they have many public toilets.  Right by Tenjin they have a men’s toilet with no door and you walk buy and can see a guy [...]


I?m Shrinking? Time to get big! (Apr 29)
I’ve been in Japan for almost 8 months. My diet has changed, I walk a lot more (or further) on a regular basis, and I don’t drink as regularly as I used in the U.S. with my friends (and the bowling league!), and I’m not doing as much manual labor type of things (casual sports, [...]


My Wedding is in less than a month! (Apr 28)
I tend to keep personal aspects of my life… well… personal, but this is a very exciting time in my life so I wanted to share. We’re both really excited and still have a few things to take care of. I can’t believe it’s in 26 days! In about 20 days some guests from America will [...]


500 ML Coke for 100 Yen (Apr 27)
I was craving a bubbly soda and I’ve hit the jackpot! I’ve seen soda in the (estimated) 16oz/500ml plastic bottles just like the U.S. but they run about 150 yen. A while ago I went from convenience store to convenience store to see what the different stores offered and I found a 500ml can of [...]


A Cheap Snack (Apr 20)
If you’re ever in Japan and you’re craving something cold, sweet, and cheap I highly recommend the Tiramisu which you can find at Family Mart. This inexpensive Tiramisu is made with one layer of chocolate cake, one layer of vanilla pudding, and coffee + cocoa sprinkled on top. The price… 105 Yen. The satisfaction… 80% It seems to [...]


My Cherry Blossom Viewing (Apr 16)
Cherry blossom trees, or sakura (see more info at Wikipedia) look amazing and this year I got to experience them for the first time ever in my life! I’ve seen some pictures of the trees, I heard they’re beautiful, I heard they’re romantic, I heard they’re magical, but I didn’t hear about the crazy drunken madness [...]