Feb 7, 2026
It is "Hometown Day" in Fukui Prefecture today. Whether you have been there or not, what do you most associate with Fukui Prefecture?
Former nickname was "Saitama". Changed it to save confusion on place review posts! Irish, 20+ years in Japan! I also write on my personal website: insaitama.com
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It is "Hometown Day" in Fukui Prefecture today. Whether you have been there or not, what do you most associate with Fukui Prefecture?
1 hour ago
5 Answers
Do you eat with your family at a particular hour? My interactions with neighbours and friends suggest their dinner time is much later than mine. I tend to aim for 7 p.m. Tell us about your dinner hour and the constraints of your work hours, family schedule. Gratuitous pic of summer soba prepared by my Japanese ojisan neighbour.
on Feb 5
5 Answers
February is just around the corner. January brought New Year festivities, wintersweet, tulips, snow, dondoyaki and so much more. What are you looking forward to in February? Be it weather related, traditions, festivals, flowers, seasonal food etc.- what you are looking forward to this February.
on Jan 27
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My local area has some specialty manholes (including some from the Gundam manhole project not too far away!) but the most common "generic" one features mountains and watermelon. Fairly representative of the region, I think! What's on yours?
on Jan 17
8 Answers
The other day, on "Strawberry Day" I wrote about "Yoshimin", the strawberry mascot of Yoshimi. I thought it might be fun to introduce a few others, so I've just written about "Tokimo" the mascot of Kawagoe. And I plan to introduce a couple of my favorites. It begs the question, do you have a favorite mascot? And how about writing a post on City-cost about your favorite or a local mascot? Pictured "Umerin" who I plan to write about next!
on Jan 17
8 Answers
Today, January 16th, is Hero Day. Who is your favorite hero, fictional or otherwise? The first one who comes to my mind for me is a real life person; Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland (moreover, the first female president), and a former United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, among other impressive roles. I had the great pleasure of meeting her in December, a dream come true. I was trying to think about who my favorite fictional hero is. I have not come to conclusion yet! There is such a choice. Do you have one?
on Jan 16
4 Answers
While its somewhat fresh in your mind, what gifts came into your house this Christmas and / or New Year, that you thought were really nice things to receive and / or really good buys, that you think might make a good present for someone else in the future? As you might see in the product reviews, I am going through some of the things I bought for the kids this year and thinking of what I was really happy with. And already thinking of next year!
on Jan 11
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Here's for a weird hobby. I just saw a video by an American Youtuber that I plan to watch about growing shiitake mushrooms. From what I've seen, it probably needs a bit of space. There was a local market in Fukuoka Prefecture that had a "mushroom room" where they grew and sold mushrooms like maitake and eringi. I also saw a video of a couple in Paris that built a mushroom growing shower room! The local hardware store sells "seeded" logs and shiitake mushroom growing kits. I have seen the logs around people's homes on occasion. It seems like a very odd, but sustainable hobby. Has anyone tried it, or is anyone interested to try this? I wonder how involved or beginner friendly it is.
on Dec 29
2 Answers
Do you like any Japanese Christmas songs? If so, what is your favorite Japanese Christmas song? Or maybe you like the Japanese version of a traditional Christmas carol?
on Dec 19
2 Answers
Firstly, do you visit Santa Claus each year in Japan? And if so, where? I've been posting places you can meet Santa Claus in various parts of Japan on the blog section. If you are looking for somewhere to meet him this year, you'll find at least 25 places on City-cost.
on Dec 11
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There was a large earthquake off the coast of Aomori Prefecture at 11.15 pm on December 8th 2025. We are approximately 700 kilometers from the epicenter, yet we felt it very strongly. Did you feel it and how far away (roughly) are you from the epicenter?
on Dec 9
7 Answers
If money wasn't an issue, which airline and / or air route do you prefer when traveling to Japan?
on Dec 6
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