You Americans out there think you recycle your trash; I assure you that you do not. The Japanese Seriously, No Kidding RECYCLE. Take the disposal of cooking oil after deep frying. In the U.S. I would save an empty glass jar or plastic bottle and pour the oil into that, then throw it in the regular …
Visiting the Onsen, or The Best Apres-Ski Ever
School and work resumed this week but fond memories of last week’s ski trip live on; I’ll post a few final thoughts from our ski trip over the coming days. Our hotel included a traditional onsen, or public bath. Plenty of ski accommodations around the world include hot tubs for soaking tired bodies after a …
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The Beer Token and Beer Vending Machines
In the late 1990s I spent five months in Sasebo, Japan when I was forward-deployed with the U.S. Navy. I was an officer in charge of an LCAC (hovercraft) detachment, and my fellow officer in charge spent several years in Japan on a previous tour. He was a great resource for important tips about visiting …
Day 2: Snow!
This morning we awoke to flurries. The gorgeous, crisp mountains that we saw for the last two days disappeared behind a wall of grey. That could only mean one thing: snow! We ate a quick breakfast and headed back to the same resort as yesterday, Happo. Tessa asked to go to ski school, so we …
Day 1: Happoone, or Whitetail with an Alpine View
Four resorts offer skiing in the Hakuba valley; today we tried the largest and most famous, called Happoone (pronounced ha po oh neh) or Happo for short. Happo hosted the alpine events at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, so we scoped out the trail map beforehand and got excited. Then we arrived and saw …
Continue reading Day 1: Happoone, or Whitetail with an Alpine View
Greetings from the Olympic Jumping Stadium!
Well, a view of it from our hotel room, anyway. There's a whole lot of brown here, though a dusting of snow fell last night. Last night we heard that there's plenty of snow at higher elevations. Off we go to find out for ourselves!
Road Trip! The Japanese Rest Stop
On the road! We left this morning for our ski trip to Hakuba. Two hours in we felt peckish and stopped for a bite at a favorite spot: the highway rest stop. The typical American rest stop includes fast food, bad coffee, doughnuts, dodgy souvenirs, and maybe one mediocre sit-down restaurant like Denny's or …
Hakuba, Here We Come!
It's go time. Tomorrow, we hit the road not-very-early and head for Hakuba, a ski village about four hours drive away. Hakuba lies in the greater Nagano area, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. On Wednesday we will ski at Happo-One, a resort that hosted several events at those winter games. Fun fact: it's pronounced Ha-po-oh-nay, …
Let’s Make a Christmas: Shopping
Christmas is not a widely celebrated holiday in Japan. Most Japanese are not Christian, and schools and businesses stay open on December 25. But if you were to walk around any stores between Halloween and late December, you would think otherwise. Christmas music plays in stores, and Christmas decorations appear in 100 yen shops, grocery …
The Good Luck Festival (Tori no Ichi)
Every fall, shrines across Japan hold Tori no Ichi festivals. Business owners come to these festivals to buy good luck symbols called kumade, which the owners display in their businesses during the coming year. Two weeks ago my friend Chika invited Cy and and I to join her family to see such a festival at …
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