Thanks for visiting!
This page maps the ever-growing content and is a great place to start for an overview.
Kero & me, Kakunodate, Akita (Credit: S.K.)
What’s in the blog?
JapanCanMix is a lifestyle blog with a cultural base, focusing mainly on Japan and Canada. You’ll see a variety of posts from food to photos and travel tips to intercultural stories.
- Japan-related posts from sweating to bad fortunes
- Photos from Japan and other neat spots along with stories
- Japanese podcasts – hubby’s work interprets Canada in Japanese; we’ve also done a couple of English podcasts together
Before starting this blog, I didn’t know that two of my favorite topics were rice and transportation.
Take a look at favorite bullet train features and the first rice crisis in my relationship with Hitoshi.
Do you like miso soup? How about gyoza or lazy sushi? Take your pick from the food related posts.
Are you also a hopefully eventually confident parent? Join us in our parenting adventures and commiserate. The last one was all about flying to Japan with baby-chan.
How to cope with a potential disaster, Japan-style by trying the earthquake demonstration truck with the Tokyo Fire Department. This earthquake demo is level 7! It was scary. (Credit: Hitoshi)
Did you know a helicopter is one of the ways to get from Narita to Tokyo? Taking the bus in Tokyo can give you a different perspective! Are you interested in staying at a capsule hotel or manga café? How about summer running tips?
If you have experiences that differ or not, I’d love to hear about it!
Is there something you’re curious about or want me to write a post on?
Leave a comment or contact me and we’ll go from there.
Have you ever decided to spontaneously climb over boulders with your handbag?
Women’s training route for monks, Senkoji Temple in Onomichi, Hiroshima (Credit: Hitoshi)
The blog’s name
The name combines my home country and my husband’s land, both of which are part of us now.
Our backgrounds usually swirl together, but occasionally not, and we are now raising our child in an environment that straddles two cultures.
Finally, Japan and unique are often in the same sentence. The blog name is a playful reference to the notion that something that is special can dance with a partner outside its margins.
What about you?
I loved this question from another blog. Drop a note below about who you are and what makes you tick. It’s great to know who is joining the fun!
I would love to go to Japan, mainly for the food and to enjoy this amazing culture. And I would like to go when the sakura are blooming. It may seem a bit cliché, but it looks so gorgeous 🙂 I’m glad to have found your blog ! I’ll put a bookmark and come back when I will have some free time 🙂 Cheers, Gin x
Great! Oh, I don’t care about cliché when it comes to sakura. They must be seen in person. Have you thought about seeing the plum blossoms? They come out before and have their own character. I must admit that I actually prefer them. 🙂 I look forward to more conversation with you!
Oh they look nice as well, maybe more vibrant than the sakura ? If I ever go there, I will try to be able to see both !
Hmmm… I love the shape of plum branches and because it’s colder, the blossoms seem more persistent to me. It’s tough to be see both unless nature knows your plans and agrees with them and you have about a month to visit. 😀 Or you’re okay traversing the country, which isn’t impossible. This way you could get the start of sakura on one end and the end of plums on the other. 🙂 Or… you could stay for two months and follow the sakura blossoming all the way up the country. That would be interesting!
I would like to do a road trip around the island, for 3 weeks probably. But I have to wait a bit, until I get enough holiday and money 🙂
Which island? Road trips take a long time due to the terrain, especially if you’re avoiding highways. Depending on which island you’re interested in, you might need more. 😀 Yes! I can understand about holiday and money. Check out the Japan Tourism where you are. They might offer free trip contests. 😀
I would stay on the main island, I would like to visit the classic sights for a first trip, like Tokyo, Ise, Kyoto, Nara, Mount koya, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagazaki, Himeji. Of course, when the time comes, I will have to make more research and maybe I will find more interesting places 🙂
That sounds like a great start! There is nothing wrong with seeing all the main bits and then branching out. The “classics” as you say (love that!) are completely worth it.
What I would give to go to Japan. I’ve been offered year upon year to go by my aunt (she’s originally from Osaka, and the rest of the clan live there) but I’m yet to have enough time. Eventually 🙂 Which part were you in?
Yes! Please do. How much time do you think you’d need?
I’m in Canada for now but lived in Akita, Fukushima and Tokyo. Hubby and I have been travelling in the west the last couple of times and Okinawa and Hokkaido are on my to-do lists.
Aaaall the time 🙂 Nah, it’s more to do with when I was asked, and then I’d forget I’d been asked in the first place until I was asked again. It’s primarily been at the fault of living between the US, England and Edinburgh, academia and recent developments at home that have gotten in the way, otherwise I’d be out there in a heartbeat.
😀 You forgot?! Do you really want to go?? I’m teasing. Wow! That’s a lot of places to split your time between. I haven’t read too much into your blog but when you say academia, is that on the teaching or learning side?
Learning. Way too young (and lacking in credentials) to be teaching for 6 years 🙂
So you’re at the beginning of your journey? Pretty exciting! Do you intend to teach then??
Zero intention. I’d like to get as far away from academia as is physically possible for as long as possible 🙂 I’m a performer/playwright, and I finished both my undergrad and postgrad courses in playwriting. That being said, quite a number of people from my undergrad went on into teaching, either outside of uni or through other courses. I could go into law with it, if I really wanted to (I don’t), but that is how much of a spring-board for other career options the course is.
Got it. 😀 That’s great that your course is that versatile, but it sounds like you’ve got a path in mind. 🙂
I look forward to reading your blog and all about your adventures in Japan. I just got a small peek into your story by reading the ‘about me’ portion of your blog. It seems that you had a great opportunity to explore Japan and get a glimpse into Japanese culture!! And I see you are a fellow Canuck as well! 🙂
Constance
Thank you! I look forward to hearing your thoughts. And I’m delighted to meet another Canuck. In fact, I think you are the first in somewhat similar circumstances and with a blog that I know about. Yay! It’s similar to travelling and meeting another Canadian and feeling like you’re long lost cousins, even though you have nothing in common other than a passport. You breathe a little slower and relax because you can scatter eh without restraint, you don’t have to explain again that America and Canada are totally different, and even if you hate coffee, you know what a double double is. 😀
Wow, you have a post schedule!
I don’t have an official one, although I do try to post at least twice a week, normally at the beginning (Monday/Tuesday) and then again towards Friday or so. Sometimes I post more often, when I suddenly have an inspiration to post about or when I have made a lunch creation that I’m very proud of (and hence eager to show off….)
I also make use of drafts and scheduling, often because I actually do have a lot of drafts…photo’s of my lunches where I just didn’t get around to typing the text with it. So when I have some time , I do tend to finish typing up the text of several drafts in one go and schedule the posting to spread it out a little bit….
Re post subjects: I love all posts that are food related and also like posts about Japanese culture/customs/tradition/history/daily life.
And I have to confess that I never listen to the podcasts…I’m sure they are interesting but somehow podcasts are not my thing at all….apologies to your hubby 🙂
Thanks so much for your comments! I really love hearing how others blog and I appreciate hearing what you like to read about here.
Don’t worry about the podcasts. 😀 They are in Japanese! 😀 Hmmm… I just made an assumption there so let me know if you do speak Japanese!
Does understanding the sushi menu count ;-)….?
Ha ha ha! Of course! Does the menu talk to you? ;D
No fancy press the button & talk to me Japanese restaurants here (or at least none that I know off) 😉
Oooo! Yes, those are lots of fun. I’ve only seen them at kaiten sushi (zushi) in Japan. Do you like ramen, by the way?
Sort of, they are not my first choice when at a Japanese restaurant.
And I do have to confess I do sometimes eat instant ramen…I know…they are unhealthy and bad and low quality and much more…but sometimes they are exactly what I need (especially when I’m tired and sniffling)
Right! I remember you saying that. I was curious about ramen restaurant trends in London and if the offerings were overpriced blah or super duper delish. 😀
I don’t really tend to go to ramen places, so can’t help with this…