Japan Scene 13: Nanban? Barbarian Chicken!

My friends are either annoyed or amused when listening to my many stories of me mixing up similar-sounding words/phrases in Ja

Goshuin Book – Shrine, Temple and Castle stamp collection

My “honourable stamp/seal book” or Goshuincho (御朱印帳) has been sitting gathering dust for a while now long to get m

NPR Documentary – Living While Black, In Japan

Living While Black, in Japan has its own challenges, but they don’t include fearing for your life. That’s how I wo

My Short Film debut as a reincarnated Japanese Emperor

Late last year I was invited to be part of a short film project. It was about Japanese Emperor Gotoba, who was exiled to Oki I

JLPT N4 failed – Yes, I do need a teacher…

More than two years since passing the JLPT N5 and realizing that the 3rd time wasn’t a charm, I… failed the JLPT N

Video: Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer

For a few weekends in late May to mid-June, I grabbed my DJI Pocket 2 and Fujifilm Instax SQ6 for some therapeutic walks to en

Japan Scene 12: Bento Battles

A bento is a single-portion meal that can range from food thrown into a sectionalized container at a takeout restaurant to edi

Fujifilm Instax SQ6 Landscape photo walk

It’s a beautiful spring day and I was excited to take the Fujifilm Instax SQ6 out for a spin to take some landscape test

Operation Visit Japan – a lesson about Personal Goal Setting

The year is 2010, I am living paycheck to paycheck and I didn’t realize yet that I was stuck in a cycle that would not c

Shimanami Kaido cycling adventure

Shimanami Kaido is an epic cycling route that connects Onomichi City in Hiroshima Prefecture to Imabari City in Ehime. You can

6 Tips for Living in Japan – be mindful of these things

I have lived in Japan for a few years now and I often get questions from persons looking to move to Japan or seeking advice on

15 year Anniversary of blogging

Today marks the fifteen-year anniversary of Jamaipanese.com. While looking back at old posts and reminiscing its obvious that

Shikoku Japan Castles – I visited 5 of them

Shikoku, Japan has its fair share of castles (and castle ruins). I may have explored many shrines and temples in Shikoku but I

Video: Project “Ferry” – Oki Kisen 隠岐汽船

Small island life in Japan involves spending a lot of time on ferries and boats. The island where I live and work has about 23

Shikoku Japan – Temples and Shrines

Shikoku is the fourth largest island in the Japanese archipelago and is southwest of Japan’s main island Honshu. It is d

Life-sized movable RX-78 Gundam will open to the public

At first, there was the giant RX-78-2 Gundam that just had smoke effects, then came the giant Unicorn Gundam that has lighting

Japan Scene 11: I can’t swim!

Doraemon has been finally set free (I am told) but it seems I was been enslaved in a different sense when I somehow forgot tha

Gesshoji Temple

I have really fallen off the Goshuincho (Temple/Shrine stamp book) train recently but enjoyed a weekend with wonderful fall we

Taking the JLPT N4 again, 3rd time’s a charm?

The year that is 2020 has been “challenging” to put it lightly. My Japanese learning journey continues with my imp

Unko Kanji Drill Book 1 complete

Learning Kanji is a difficult process but after trying various methods of study I have found success with the Unko Kanji Drill

Black Lives Matter Hiroshima Peaceful March

I’m a little late with this one. I travelled from my island to attend the Black Lives Matter Hiroshima Peaceful March o

Climbing Mount Fuji? Here are 7 tips!

Climbing to the top of Mount Fuji is easily one of the highlights of my time living in Japan. I get a lot of questions about t

Japan Scene 10: Doraemon the slave

My Japanese rap album flopped unfortunately but my list of blunders as I learn Japanese gets longer and longer each day. My ma

Ghost of Tsushima – State of Play presentation

I was REALLY excited when Ghost of Tsushima was first announced in 2017. However, as time passed and information dried up I ki