How Much Japanese You Need To Know To Travel To Japan and HTA's Recommended Approach & Resources for Studying Japanese

THIS is definitely the episode you don't want to miss if you have any interest in doing anything "after dinner" in Japan. Isaac and Abby discuss some of the unique aspects of Japan's Nightlife culture; what it has to offer, the in's and out's and how to best enjoy it as a tourist or foreigner. They discuss some of their personal experience's of the nightlife of Japan, elaborate on their best practices and also provide details/recommendations for those unfamiliar with "Japan at Night". If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to connect with us on our social media pages.

We start off this episode with a Japanese food taste experience! Abby brings some of her favorite finds from her recent trip to an Asian food store and Isaac tastes some of them for the first time. After the taste test though, we talk more about connections between food and culture within Japan. We cover everything from children’s school lunches in Japan to Konbini’s (Japanese Convenience Stores) to how food plays into Japanese cultural holidays. Food will always be connected to any countries culture, so here we breakdown how Japanese food relates to our experiences with the culture as well as tying in how it relates to our USA upbringing.

The Hibana Podcast returns to talk about Japanese Food and how food relates to culture. This topic of Japanese food and culture is certainly a multi-episode topic, so if you are interested, we will discuss more on our next episode.  Unfortunately, we don't want to break any copyright (or whatever) laws, so we couldn't play the "Sukiya" song that we talked about for the outro, BUT here is the link to the song: Sukiya Song By Dela (It is a pretty fun song, in Isaac's opinion!)  Also, as always, feel free to hit us up on our social media pages.  Lastly, thank you to all of our listeners. We hope you have gained some interest or better understanding through our discussions. This has always been a genuinely fun conversation between ourselves and we thank you for listening but mostly hope that you have gained some insight from it.

Sorry, for the recent lack of content, but Hikari Travel Agency (HTA) is ecstatic to get back into the swing of things! This episode, Isaac & Abby talk about some of the proper etiquette that they recommend you follow when traveling to/throughout Japan as a foreigner. As expected, they provide their personal experiences of living and traveling throughout Japan as well as commenting on some of the more mainstream recommended etiquette in Japan.  Not all of their personal experiences flow with the common published "Proper Japan Etiquette" though, so if you want to hear the real or slightly embarrassing details then give a listen to this episode!  Also, they discuss some of the up-coming future projects that HTA has been planning!  Definitely listen to the end to hear the announcements, but we recommend you follow our social media for the details! (sorry if that sounds like click-bait, but social media is where we continuously post) SIDE NOTE: The Japanese term that Isaac was referencing when talking about an informal, after-work gathering is known as "無礼講" (bureikou). 

This episode is Part 2 of our “Living in Japan as a Foreigner” topic. As always, be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too. If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to like us on our social media outlets for additional content. Let us know what you think! We would love to hear suggestions for future episodes too!

For this episode, HTA discusses the experiences that come with living in Japan as a foreigner for an extended period of time. Being a long-term foreigner in Japan comes with many interesting experiences! This episode aims to discuss some of our honest opinions on the advantages/disadvantages of it. This episode is Part 1 of 2. As always, be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too. If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to like us on our social media outlets for additional content. Let us know what you think! We would love to hear suggestions for future episodes too!

Isaac and Abby both bring their personal, Japan Travel Wishlist's (Bucket List's) to the table to share with you! After kicking it off with an intense game of じゃんけん (Janken, Japanese Rock-Paper-Scissors), we dive deep into the things we really want to do in Japan, but haven't done yet. Everything from AKB48 through Japanese tea ceremonies and up to Mount Fuji is covered, so be sure to listen to this one. As always, be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too. If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to like us on our social media outlets for additional content. Let us know what you think! We would love to hear suggestions for future episodes too! *Also, the Sapporo Winter Olympics were actually held in 1979 =P

As we are in the middle of the holiday season in the USA, we thought it would be the perfect time to discuss some Japanese holidays too! This episode dives into some of the interesting aspects of Japanese holidays and festivals, as well as how Japan celebrates (or doesn't) some Western holidays. We discuss everything from drifting wooden karts at the Danjiri Matsuri to Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas, so you won't want to miss this engaging episode! Be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too!

This episode focuses on discussing how much Japanese you actually need to navigate through Japan during your travels, as well as providing an outlined approach for studying Japanese and some of the primary resources to do so. The outline for HTA's recommended approach and resources for studying Japanese can be found at our "Basic Approach and Resources for Studying Japanese" article on our website blog. Be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too!

Join us as we discuss the various ways that we are still able to enjoy Japanese culture during these travel restrictions. Feeling confined by these travel limitations? Let this episode provide you with some new ideas to experience a taste of another culture! Travel may be limited throughout the world (right now), but that won't stop us from enjoying our favorite Japanese foods, games, anime, resources and many more! Also, be sure to stick around for our interview with Brandt Fuse of Sumofish! Brandt is a San Francisco based illustrator that creates engaging and original designs that fuse Japanese and American culture.  Most of his designs go into graphic t-shirts, but if you ever find your-self in the Japantown district of San Francisco it is likely that you will run into his distinct designs in one way or another! Checkout some of Sumofish's designs at their website sumofish.net or their instagram @sumofishdesign