Do you know about Japan’s tonarigumi, small local neighborhood groups connected to community associations? This funny story shares how 18 households tried to leave one, and the dramatic streetlight dispute that came after.
Ritsuko sensei shares her personal experience with menopause and how swimming helped her care for both her body and mind. Through honest conversations, exercise, and supportive friends, menopause became something easier to face rather than something to hide.
Asuka and Fujiwara, newly registered as a World Heritage Site, offers a quiet look into Japan’s ancient capital history through palace ruins, burial mounds, and the peaceful rural landscape of Nara.
Ise offers both quiet moments of gratitude at Ise Jingu and cheerful streets to explore at Okage Yokocho. From sacred traditions to summer sweets, it is a place where calm and joy meet.
Ritsuko-sensei shares her journey around the Noto Peninsula, where breathtaking nature meets the resilience of local people recovering from the earthquake. Visiting the region becomes not only a travel experience, but also a meaningful way to support its recovery.
Punch-kun is a bottle-raised baby Japanese macaque at a zoo in Ichikawa, Chiba after his mother stopped caring for him. He’s gone viral for cuddling an orangutan plush “Oran-mama” and clinging to his keepers, showing how much warmth and comfort matter as he grows.
A heartfelt reflection on friendship – how a close friend can inspire you to live fully, even in difficult times. A dream farewell becomes a quiet source of comfort that lingers long after.
In Japan, vending machines are everywhere, but a new “story vending machine” now offers short, location-themed stories at the press of a button.
What if one carefully chosen sentence could reach someone’s future? In this blog, Ritsuko-sensei links essay editing to The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, exploring the quiet power of words written with care.
Ritsuko Sensei introduces Japanese symbols of luck and shares her dracaena’s bloom as a hopeful sign.