According to the data provided from Ministry of education, 313,214 foreign students is living in Japan in 2015 May. It has increased 4.4% from the previous year. It is expected that more foreign students will come to Japan. VIVA VIDA, with the aim to provide safety net to the foreign students, offers newly improved, necessary…

In the first half of 2020, the number of foreign visitors to Japan decreased suddenly due to the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) infection worldwide, which has seriously impacted the travel industry around the world. What will happen to the Olympic and Paralympic Games that have now been postponed to next year?   Development…

Nagai Sake Brewery in Gunma Prefecture, which exports sake to 40 countries and regions worldwide, will release a new product “Mitsubasho Artist Series Kataoka Tsurutaro” from the 10th of September 2020 with the running concept of environmental conservation in Ozegahara (Oze) in the Gunma Prefecture. As an original sake made for environmental conservation in Oze,…

Studying Japanese is very important for living, working and staying in Japan. J SELECT features Japanese language schools in the greater Tokyo area offering long-term courses mainly for students looking to attend university or work in Japan and are usually one to two years of full-time study. Here’s a list to find your perfect school in…

Soon the Autumn holiday season will be upon us. However the “Go To Travel” campaign is not applicable to residents of Tokyo and travelling has been made difficult due to COVID-19. But for those residents stuck in the city but dying for a holiday, we have good news. Introducing the limited luxury hotel deals exclusive…

VIVAVIDA! is an affordable and reliable medical and life insurance for foreigners/expats in Japan. With our utmost aim to provide a safety net for foreigners at a minimum cost, we would like to make you feel secured and need not worry of having expensive medical treatment during your stay in Japan. Our customer service and…

The rainy season is over and the summer heat is in full swing. The year 2020 has already seen the cancellation of many summer fireworks festivals. It is said, originally the tradition of yearly fireworks began during the “Kyoho Famine”. Prices rose due to the famine and epidemics such as cholera had become epidemic. It…

Thomasina Larkin stumbles across a local artist who likes to mix and match. Armed with phat magic markers, acrylic paints and his computer, Shibuya Tadaomi can transform anything that catches his eye into a soulful and lifelike image of robotic funk. Influenced by a childhood spent watching Transformers and Power Rangers, and surrounded by the…

A popular Japanese outdoor pastime offers participants the chance to get well and truly off the beaten track, writes Robert Cameron. It’s summer – time to hit the streams for some sawanobori.  This popular and uniquely Japanese sport, sometimes translated as stream-climbing or river-tracing, is virtually unknown outside of Japan, but is extremely popular here….

Mari Mari, quite contrary, how does your Japanese garden grow?  With large flat stones and no garden gnomes, and temple tiles all in a row, writes Stephen Mansfield. Having accumulated a small library of books and magazines devoted to the subject of Japanese gardens as well as having visited more than 150 gardens stretching from…