🔊 Aki desu ne · Kōyō · Kirei desu ne · Suzushii desu ne · Samui desu · Momijigari (male, then female)

🇯🇵 @japan

🌏 M7.0 earthquake strikes deep off Japan's Ogasawara Islands, about 1,000 km south of Tokyo, with no tsunami

🔹 It hit at 11:10 a.m. Sunday about 470 km down, shaking the islands at 3 on Japan's 7-point scale
🔹 Light shaking was felt from Tohoku to Tokai

🇯🇵 @japan

🍱 Where to eat in Fukuoka: Ganso Hakata Mentaiju

Fukuoka is Japan's spicy cod roe (mentaiko) capital, and this Nishinakasu restaurant built its whole menu around it. The signature Mentaiju is one whole kombu-marinated mentaiko laid over nori and hot rice, served with sauces in different spice levels. Fresh from a renovation, the dining room reopened on Oct 23.

🔹 Order: Mentaiju ¥1,980, double-roe "Jo" ¥3,410, mentaiko tsukemen ¥1,980 (tax incl.)
🔹 Hours: 7:00–22:30 (last order 22:00)
🔹 Closed: no regular holidays
🔹 Access: 5 min walk from Tenjin Stn (Exit 16) or Nakasu-Kawabata Stn (Exit 1)

💡 Tip: Lines get long at lunch. Come for breakfast at 7:00, or book a table online for 7:30–8:30 or after 17:00. Pick your rice size (small, medium or large) when you order.

📍 Google Maps: Ganso Hakata Mentaiju

🇯🇵 @japan

🍁 Where to go in Nikko: Kegon Falls

Water from Lake Chuzenji drops 97 m in a single plunge here, and Kegon is ranked among Japan's three most famous waterfalls. The elevator operator says the autumn leaves around the falls are at their best right now, so the cliffs are framed in red and gold.

🔹 Entry: upper viewpoint free; elevator to the lower deck ¥600 return (adults)
🔹 Hours: 8:00–17:00 (Mar–Nov), 9:00–16:30 (Dec–Feb)
🔹 Closed: no closing days
🔹 Access: Tobu bus from JR/Tobu Nikko Station to Chuzenji Onsen (~50 min), then a 5-min walk

💡 Tip: In leaf season the winding road up from Nikko gets very busy, so take an early bus and head to the lower deck first, where the elevator drops you 100 m down to face the falls.

📍 Google Maps: Kegon Falls Elevator

🇯🇵 @japan

💍 Japan's "proxy matchmaking" is booming: parents go to singles events for their adult kids and swap profiles with other parents

🔹 At one Kyoto event, about 80% of parents were in their 60s–70s; about 90% of the kids were in their 30s–40s
🔹 If both families agree, the kids decide whether to meet

🇯🇵 @japan

🗣 Learn Japanese: LOST FOR WORDS? 🤔

🔤 How to read: ō is a long "oh". A double letter like kk in yukkuri gets a tiny pause before it. The u in masu is almost silent, so it sounds like "mahs". Japanese r is a light tap, between an English r and l.

🤷 Wakarimasen = wah-kah-ree-mah-sen (I don't understand, polite) · casual: Wakaranai
🔁 Mō ichido onegaishimasu = moh ee-chee-doh oh-neh-gai-shee-mahs (one more time, please) · casual: Mō ikkai!
🐢 Yukkuri onegaishimasu = yook-koo-ree oh-neh-gai-shee-mahs (slowly, please)
🇬🇧 Eigo ga hanasemasu ka? = ay-goh gah hah-nah-seh-mahs kah (can you speak English?)
👍 Hai, wakarimashita = high, wah-kah-ree-mahsh-tah (yes, got it, polite) · casual: Wakatta!

💡 Tip: Start with Sumimasen (excuse me) from our restaurant lesson, then use these. Staying calm and polite works much better than repeating yourself louder in English.

🔊 Listen to the voice clip below 👇

Japanese: わかりません · もう一度お願いします · ゆっくりお願いします · 英語が話せますか？ · はい、わかりました

🇯🇵 @japan

🔊 Wakarimasen · Mō ichido onegaishimasu · Yukkuri onegaishimasu · Eigo ga hanasemasu ka? · Hai, wakarimashita (male, then female)

🇯🇵 @japan

🕊 JUST IN: Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has died at 90, the LDP announced Monday. He passed away on Oct. 22.

🔹 Japan's 91st PM (2007–08), son of ex-PM Takeo Fukuda; he chaired the 2008 G8 summit in Hokkaido.
🔹 Remembered for warming ties with China.

🇯🇵 @japan

🍢 Where to eat in Osaka: Kushikatsu Daruma, Shinsekai Main Store

This tiny counter by Tsutenkaku tower is where Osaka's famous kushikatsu began in 1929: beef, pork and veggies on skewers, coated in fine breadcrumbs and deep-fried to order. It nearly closed in 2001 until a regular, Osaka actor Hidekazu Akai, helped keep it going.

🔹 Budget: about ¥1,500–2,500 per person, cash only, 1 drink per person
🔹 Hours: 11:00–22:30 weekdays, 10:30–22:30 weekends and holidays (last order 22:00)
🔹 Closed: open every day
🔹 Getting there: 5 min walk from Dobutsuen-mae Station (Midosuji Line) or JR Shin-Imamiya

💡 Tip: No double-dipping! The sauce tray is shared, so dip each skewer once before biting. Need more sauce? Scoop it with the free cabbage. This main store has just 12 counter seats and takes no bookings; the nearby Janjan branch takes reservations for 2+.

📍 Google Maps: Kushikatsu Daruma Shinsekai

🇯🇵 @japan

🌹 Where to go in Tokyo: Kyu-Furukawa Gardens

A stone Western-style mansion designed by British architect Josiah Conder sits above terraced rose beds, with a Japanese pond garden by master gardener Ogawa Jihei below. The Autumn Rose Festival runs until Nov 6 (about 100 varieties, 200 bushes), and on Oct 26 the garden reported 92 varieties in bloom.

🔹 Entry: ¥150 adults, ¥70 age 65+ (mansion interior extra)
🔹 Hours: 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30
🔹 Closed: Dec 29–Jan 1 only
🔹 Access: Kami-Nakazato Stn (JR Keihin-Tohoku) or Nishigahara Stn (Namboku Line), 7 min walk

💡 Tip: Come in the morning, when the roses smell strongest. Tripods and selfie sticks are banned during the festival. Add nearby Rikugien Garden with the ¥400 combo ticket.

📍 Google Maps: Kyu-Furukawa Gardens

🇯🇵 @japan

🔐 JUST IN: Rakuten Travel says hackers reached data of up to 2.6 million users of its overseas hotel pages and 860,000 on its multilingual site

🔹 Names, emails and phone numbers may be exposed; ~36,000 had partial card info, no full numbers or codes
🔹 Rakuten says it will contact affected users

🇯🇵 @japan

🗣 Learn Japanese: AT A KONBINI 🏪

🔤 How to read: ō is a long "oh". ī is a long "ee". Double consonants like kk get a tiny pause. The u in masu is almost silent ("mahs"). Japanese r is a light tap.

🔥 Atatamemasu ka? = ah-tah-tah-meh-mahs kah (shall I heat it up? — staff, polite) · casual: Atatameru?
🛍️ Fukuro wa irimasu ka? = foo-koo-roh wah ee-ree-mahs kah (do you need a bag?) · casual: Fukuro iru?
🙅 Iie, kekkō desu = ee-eh, kek-koh dess (no thank you, polite) · casual: Iranai
🥡 Mochikaeri de = moh-chee-kah-eh-ree deh (for takeout)
🍽️ Ītoin de = ee-toh-een deh (for eat-in)

💡 Tip: At a konbini, staff often heat bentō or onigiri free after you pay. Plastic bags usually cost a few yen now — say Iie, kekkō desu if you brought your own.

🔊 Listen to the voice clip below 👇

Japanese: 温めますか？ · 袋はいりますか？ · いいえ、結構です · 持ち帰りで · イートインで

🇯🇵 @japan

🔊 Atatamemasu ka? · Fukuro wa irimasu ka? · Iie, kekkō desu · Mochikaeri de · Ītoin de (male, then female)

🇯🇵 @japan

📚 Tetsuya Chiba, the manga legend behind the boxing classic "Ashita no Joe", has died at 87

🔹 He died on Oct 22 at a Tokyo hospital of myelodysplastic syndrome, publisher Kodansha said
🔹 In 2024 he became the first manga artist to receive Japan's Order of Culture

🇯🇵 @japan

🥞 Where to eat in Hiroshima: Okonomiyaki Nagataya

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki is layered, not mixed: thin batter, a mountain of cabbage, pork, noodles and egg, grilled slowly on the teppan right in front of you. Nagataya sits just across the road from Peace Memorial Park, a minute's walk from the Atomic Bomb Dome, and was picked for Tabelog's Okonomiyaki Top 100 in 2018 and 2019.

🔹 Order: Nagataya-yaki (pork, egg, shrimp, squid tempura bits, noodles) ¥1,550; Hiroshima oyster ¥1,850; classic pork & egg from ¥1,050
🔹 Hours: 11:00–20:30 (last order 20:00), or until sold out
🔹 Closed: Tuesdays (also Nov 3); no reservations
🔹 Getting there: Genbaku Dome-mae tram stop, 2 min walk

💡 Tip: The shop's English menu online lists no-pork, no-fish and vegetable-only okonomiyaki. No bookings, so expect a line at lunch and dinner; mid-afternoon after the Peace Museum is easier.

📍 Google Maps: Okonomiyaki Nagataya

🇯🇵 @japan

🍁 Where to go in Hakodate: Goryokaku Park & Tower

Japan's famous star-shaped fort, finished in 1864 and the last stronghold of the Hakodate War, turns red and gold in autumn. Walk the moats and ramparts up close, then ride up Goryokaku Tower to see the whole five-pointed star in fall colour.

🔹 Entry: park free; tower deck ¥1,200 (junior/high school ¥900, elementary ¥600)
🔹 Hours: inner grounds 5:00–19:00 (5:00–18:00 from Nov 1); tower 9:00–18:00, last ticket 17:50
🔹 Closed: open every day
🔹 Access: Hakodate streetcar from Hakodate-ekimae to Goryokaku-koen-mae (about 16 min), then about 10 min on foot

💡 Tip: The leaves usually peak from mid-October to early November, so this is the week to go. Buy a tower ticket in advance at a convenience store to go straight to the elevator line, and try the glass see-through floor on the deck.

📍 Google Maps: Goryokaku Tower

🇯🇵 @japan

🎃 A bear apparently ate a Halloween pumpkin at a nursery in Esashi, Hokkaido, and today the town's elementary school and nursery closed for the day

🔹 Police suspect a bear; a ~1.5 m bear was then seen walking on the school grounds
🔹 It also ate apples off a tree next door. Parents will drive kids to school through Friday

🇯🇵 @japan

🗣 Learn Japanese: AT THE STATION 🚉

🔤 How to read: Every syllable gets the same short beat. The u in desu and masu is almost silent ("dess", "mahs"). Double ss in massugu gets a tiny pause.

📍 Eki wa doko desu ka? = eh-kee wah doh-koh dess kah (where is the station?) · casual: Eki doko?
🚆 Kono densha wa Shinjuku ni ikimasu ka? = koh-noh den-shah wah sheen-joo-koo nee ee-kee-mahs kah (does this train go to Shinjuku?) · casual: Kono densha, Shinjuku iku?
🔢 Nanbansen desu ka? = nahn-bahn-sen dess kah (which platform number?)
➡️ Migi / Hidari / Massugu = mee-gee / hee-dah-ree / mahs-soo-goo (right / left / straight ahead)
📏 Chikai desu ka? = chee-kai dess kah (is it close?) · casual: Chikai?

💡 Tip: Swap Shinjuku for any station name. -bansen means track number, so just follow the numbered signs. Lost outside? A kōban (small police box) can point the way.

🔊 Listen to the voice clip below 👇

Japanese: 駅はどこですか？ · この電車は新宿に行きますか？ · 何番線ですか？ · 右 / 左 / まっすぐ · 近いですか？

🇯🇵 @japan

🔊 Eki wa doko desu ka? · Kono densha wa Shinjuku ni ikimasu ka? · Nanbansen desu ka? · Migi, hidari, massugu · Chikai desu ka? (male, then female)

🇯🇵 @japan