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Apr 24, 2025

Golden Week 2025 plans?

This year's Golden Week gives us Tuesday, April 29th, and then potentially a four-day weekend from May 3rd to 6th. How are you intending to spend the break? Will you travel, "staycation", or dare I ask, work through it?

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TonetoEdo

TonetoEdo

Living between the Tone and Edo Rivers in Higashi Katsushika area of Chiba Prefecture.

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4 Answers

  • genkidesu

    genkidesu

    on Apr 25

    We tried to travel over GW during one of our first years in Japan, and it was a nightmare. Ever since, we opt to stay home or just explore things locally. It's a nice time of year for walks, enjoying flowers, and so forth, so I'm not really mad about some 'forced relaxation' so to speak.

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  • BigfamJapan

    BigfamJapan

    on Apr 25

    We have nothing booked, but we'll hopefully get away for at least one night. But the kids have a lot on - karate tournaments, soccer matches etc - so a lot of the time will be spent on ferrying them around and watching their events!

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  • helloalissa

    helloalissa

    on May 6

    We had a day trip nearby to meet a friend but always stay close to home. I borrowed a lot of library books and we've been doing some much needed relaxing (although genkidesu's article about extra chores and decluttering reminds me I could have been more productive). We also did our annual hike to see the wild fuji blossoms in the mountains on greenery day which seemed fitting.

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  • TonetoEdo

    TonetoEdo

    on May 6

    @helloalissa Right on! Getting out was an option in the Kanto region until today...It's raining! I opted to declutter and clean. My house smells all fresh. My work schedule has a few down days later in May, so I don't feel deprived of holidays.

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Recommendations for next Christmas?

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!

BigfamJapan

BigfamJapan

23 hours ago

2 Answers

Under the radar winter festivals

There are some winter festivals that get a lot of hype, like the Sapporo Snow Festival, for instance. However, as someone who doesn't like crowds, I enjoy lower-key festivals a whole lot more. Do you have any favorite winter festivals that aren't really tourist-trappy? What makes them fun or unique?

genkidesu

genkidesu

on Jan 2

3 Answers

Growing Mushrooms

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.

helloalissa

helloalissa

on Dec 29

3 Answers

How do you feel about nuclear power?

This week, the mayor of Niigata officially approved the restarting of a nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki. My home country doesn't use nuclear power, so it makes me a bit uneasy. How do you feel about it? Would you be comfortable with a nuclear power plant operating in your prefecture?

genkidesu

genkidesu

on Dec 24