Yoko Lost in Japan – Ready for new Adventures!
In Japan, manhole covers are something special. Each area has its own design and some even have colored versions. Since 2018 also Pokemon joined the manhole trend and you can find manhole covers with Pokémon design in many prefectures of the country. In this article I want to tell you how to find the PokéFuta in Kyoto!
Happy Halloween! 👻🎃
How are you celebrating Halloween? Are you the one who is going out to parties or are you rather enjoy all the decoration coming out silently? I am rather the second group – you won’t find me at the streets of Shibuya on Halloween night. Although that October – just like the previous months – was quite packed with appointments and work for me, I somehow managed to visit some Halloween Afternoon Teas in Tokyo in the last few days before Halloween. And for sure I also tried some take-out sweets. Here I want to share this year’s treats with you.
When you are in Japan, there is one thing you can’t miss: Pokémon! With everything starting in 1996, the Pokémon phenomenon is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Next to visiting the Pokémon Centers and Stores around the country, I also enjoy collecting the PokéFuta (manhole covers) which are getting more and more, and now there is a new spot in the Kanto region to visit as a Pokémon fan: Pokémon Post Boxes!
Because we are living not too far away from Yokohama, I had to visit the post boxes and surely would like to share photos and information about them with you!
Any Potter heads here? It’s September 1st and the students of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are on their way to plattform 9 3/4 to get on the Hogwarts Express. Meanwhile, we muggles in Tokyo gathered for a yummy feast in Omotesando, which I want to share with you here on my blog today.
Okay, for anyone who is not familiar with Harry Potter: this time the article will be about the Harry Potter themed cafe that is running in Tokyo right now. The time limited cafe is taking place at Omotensando Box Cafe & Space in Shibuya, and is open from 22nd July to 12th September 2021. So only a few more days to go!
I don’t know how often I already heard about the beautiful summer exhibition at Hotel Gajoen in Tokyo, and never made it in time for a visit there. But this year, I finally took the chance and took a look around the Wa no Akari x Hyakudan Kaidan 2021, an event showing the lights of Japan at an historical place. And for sure, I don’t want to withhold these pieces of art from you!
Just a few months ago, I wrote a short article about the Arina Tanemura Café which took place in spring. And now it is time for the summer version! Because filming inside the café was not allowed such as last time, I only can show you the café with photos again.
The Arina Tanemura PopUp Café is taking place from 28th July until 23rd August 2021. After the girls have been in focus in spring, now it is the turn for the male characters. Because it is a collaboration with Animate, you can find it at Animate Cafè Ikebukuro No. 3, which is located right next to the main Animate shop. This time, there is also another cafe taking place in Nagoya during the same period.
June is marking the rainy season in Japan which usually is taking place around June in Japan’s Kanto region. Tsuyu (梅雨) as it is called in Japanese, is mostly lasting about three-four weeks, bringing quite unstable weather. Not that it is raining all day, but some days are filled with light rain, some have sudden rain showers and it is changing very sudden, so that you can’t really trust the weather forecast.
Next to umbrellas there are two things popping up during the rainy season in Japan: hydrangea and teruteru bozu. While I really love to see the first ones, I won’t write about the beautiful hydrangea in this article. I want to tell you more about the small rain dolls and the Weather Shrine in Tokyo where you can find a lot of them.
When I was a teenager back in Germany I read manga and watched anime a lot, which woke up my interest in Japan. One of the manga & anime I really liked was Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne by Arina Tanemura. I was so happy when the 20th Anniversary exhibition took place in 2017 and now her works were back at a time-limited cafe!
The Arina Tanemura PopUp Cafe has taken place at Animate Cafe Ikebukuro No. 2 and was running from 21st April to 24 May 2021. It had the subtitle Precious Wedding Party and was the second cafe of this type. For weekends and public holidays you needed to make a reservation beforehand via the official website, but on normal weekdays you could simply visit it. In case there were too many costumers waiting numbers will be handed out. We went on a weekday and it was not crowded at all.
Let’s get started with my first article on here! I decided to begin with the Azalea Festival at Nezu Shrine, because I just recently visited it for the first time and was amazed by the beauty – and that is why I would love to share this place and some photos with you.
Hello everyone! (^w^)~
During the last months I was thinking a lot what to do with my German blog… I didn’t feel like writing there anymore, because it feels so unstructured and I don’t get many responses there either. And I know I want to renewal it as well, because somehow many photos are broken (and I don’t know why) and so on, but I know how much time this will take and I am not really sure if I want to waste so much time on repairing the old stuff rather than putting my energy into creating new things.
Furthermore, I’m also considering that I have more and more international followers and friends and thought about doing the whole thing in English for a while – my instagram account is all in English, too, and there are many tools that can do an easy translation of text in any language.