Aomori Prefecture is well known in Japan for its delicious apples, farming and beautiful countryside, and of course the Japanese Women’s Olympic Curling Team.

This unique and somewhat out of the way prefecture is coming up now as it welcomes its first Starbucks Coffee shop in Goshogawara City.

Hundreds of people were lined up from as early in the morning as 4am to be among the first to try the shop after its 10am opening on August 27th.

This shop is Japan’s 888th Starbucks in 44 of its prefectures. The shop was offering a limited edition tumbler for sale in addition to its regular foods, drinks, and merchandise.

The official name of the store is the Starbucks Coffee – Aomori Elm Shop, as it is located in the Elm shopping area. The photo below shows a Starbucks tasting done in the Elm area of Aomori on August 7th, creating buzz for the pending opening.

Starbucks plans to continue to expand in Aomori Prefecture, and throughout Japan.

One of Google’s special logos or doodles recently paid tribute to the Daimonji Festival in Kyoto.

It is held just at the end of the Obon festival. During Obon (one of Japan’s biggest travel seasons), people often return to their hometowns, hold family reunions, and await the return of the spirits of their ancestors. Special packs of delicious fruit are on sale to be placed on the altars. There are dances and many regions have unique ways to celebrate.

During Obon, bon fires are lit on mountains in Kyoto illustrating the significance of the final day of the celebration when the spirits return to the spirit world.

The most recognizable mountain bonfire is the one in the shape of the Japanese character for big. That is the one Google chose to use. Below that you can see how it was rendered in Google’s logo. I think it was very well done, and does appropriate justice to the end of the August Obon Festival.

One would think that a trip to a HOT spring in the middle of summer would be absolutely crazy, and one would be completely right… in a good way.

Hot Spring (Onsen) resorts are most popular in the winter. I have to admit that there is immense pleasure in sitting in a naturally (very) hot natural spring with snow falling all around you. It feels good inside and out, especially if you’ve got a nice view and good people around you.

The same can be true in the summer, especially for a day trip to an all encompassing indoor water park such as Osaka’s SpaWorld.

Located in downtown Osaka, this huge complex houses restaurants, changing rooms, two floors of hot springs, smaller shops, video game arcades, and swimming pools with play areas for children, three different water slides, a current pool, and small poolside food shops.

A bathing suit is required for the pool are and it is open to both sexes. Bathing suits are available for rental in the locker room area. At the pool side, there are tubes available for rental for use in the current pool, but you can also bring your own (recommended, as it will be cheaper to buy one on the way than to rent one there). The current pool goes through a small cave area with sprays of water so don’t be surprised if you pass by young Japanese couples making out by the side of the pool!

There is also a small play area for children on an island in the pool area with small slides and a smaller pool for families to enjoy. There is also a hot spring in the pool area that families and couples can enter together (wearing bathing suits).

The hot springs are obviously separated between men and women, and the floors alternate. One floor is dedicated to Asian style baths and the other is dedicated to Europe. That’s a great reason to go more than once.

There are also salt baths and a variety of the healthy “novelty” baths including one with a low level electric current running through it. Men and women generally roam their floors naked or with a small complimentary towel covering themselves.

There is a small sports gym in the complex and a connected hotel which offers longer access hours to people staying. A great place to stay if you are in Osaka.

SpaWorld is easy to access by subway, and extensive parking is also available.

Although a trip in winter would be excellent, there are a thousand good reasons to go in the summer… specifically that a full day at SpaWorld is only 1,000 during the summer (until September 30!)

I highly recommend a trip to SpaWorld if you are looking for something cheap and fun to spend a day doing in Osaka!

Here is a link to SpaWorld’s English language homepage so you can check it out for yourself.

It’s Hanami season again. Hanami is the traditional viewing of cherry blossoms in Japan. The season is just about starting out now with the earliest bloom scheduled for about March 14th in Fukuoka and the latest cherry blossom blooming scheduled for Sapporo and above, starting in the first few days of May.

If you don’t get a chance to do Hanami during this time, I hope you can at least take off from work for some “Yozakura”. A lot of good cherry blossom spots in Japan set up lighting for a little romantic evening cherry blossom viewing.

Here is a map from the Japanese Weather Association via the Japan National Tourism Organization to help you plan your Spring trip.

I’ll start with some of the bad advice I got before moving to Japan one June many Prime Ministers ago…

• One person told me not to bring any shorts or anything that would expose my legs because it’s not done in “that culture”.
• Another person told me to pack a black suit just in case I get invited to a funeral because “they have a lot of funerals over there”.
• Yet another person told me to pack enough snacks for the week because the fish goes bad fast.

After living in Japan through way too many sweaty summers, here’s my packing advice for a trip to Japan in the summer. If anybody has some questions or good suggestions, feel free to lay it out in the comments.

• T-shirts – both long and short-sleeved. You are going to sweat, and a lot of the temples and sights in Japan don’t give you a lot of room for shade. It is humid and you will sweat, a mid-day change of shirt will make your day. The night can sometimes be cool warranting a nice long-sleeved T-shirt.
• Ditto for socks. Unless you are wearing hiking sandals or something like that, you may want to change soggy ones for dry ones.
• Ditto for underwear.
• Short pants. It’s humid… that should be your first concern.
• An extra pair of shoes or something like that if you wear a larger size. You can probably get them in a larger city, but it also might be convenient to have something you can wear if you happen to lose a shoe in a rice paddy or somewhere like that.
• A hat to keep out the son. Hat’s are common, in fact you’ll see women speeding down the road ringing their bicycle bells wearing hats with oversized brims and what can best be describe as welder-mask looking visors on.
• Deoderant. If you wear it, bring it. It’s not as easy to find as long time residents wish.
• Presents. It’s always good to have something cool to give people you meet. It’s really hard to check what kinds of things are already available in Japan, but uniquely American candy, American magazines, or something unique from your home town always works. In Japan they really appreciate things that you can “only get” a certain place.

Things you don’t need:

• Umbrellas. It will rain, but they are so inexpensive there it might be better to get a cheap one than risk losing your good one on the train. In the Summer, it might even feel good to let yourself get wet.
• Diapers. This is my personal opinion, but I think diapers are much better in Japan. They are very soft, and pull-up types are abundant. This is one of the few items we actually bring with us when we travel from Japan to the U.S.
• A suit or dress clothes. Unless you know you are going to need them, I wouldn’t worry about bringing them. There are also cheap stores like Uniqlo where you can get some pretty good clothes inexpensively in a pinch.

I’m sure I’ve missed some things and I’ll add to this list in the comments if I realize what it is. As I said before, I’m open to comments and suggestions!

More Korean budget airlines are offering service to Japan’s airports, including Kansai International (KIX). This could mean cheaper airfares to and from Japan if you are willing to go through Korea. The airport in Seoul is really nice so that should not be a big problem if you are willing to have a long layover.

• Air Busan will be flying between Busan and Fukuoka starting in March. Air Busan is affiliated with Asiana which flies internationally out of Korea so this could be a great way to get Asiana flights out of Korea more cheaply.
• Jeju Air has been flying between Seoul Incheon Airport and Kansai International Airport or Kita-Kyushu Airport, and recently added new flights between KIX and Seoul Gimpo Airport.
• Jin Air which flies between Korea and Thailand is looking to add flights to Japan which means it could be cheaper to get from Japan to Thailand, or to fly through Thailand on the way back to you own country.

The trick though is that if you are buying airline tickets in Japan, you often have to specifically ask for prices from carriers that are not the main Japanese or American carriers. Often when you buy tickets and mention that you don’t mind Korean, Singaporean, Chinese, or European carriers your agent will say, “Oh, I see,” and start searching those as well.

Some of the cheapest fares to the United States I’ve seen have been on Air China. We’ll have to see if the new budget airlines flying to Japan will lead to better ways to transfer through other countries in Asia and get to further destinations more inexpensively.

This could also be a useful way to get from Japan to a country that has less expensive fuel surcharges. Fuel surcharges in Japan can get out of hand depending on the time of year so this could be a good way to fly over to a nearby country with lower fuel surcharges in order to buy the tickets for the longer leg of your flight.

If you are outside of Japan and flying in, it may be worth it to look into flying to Korea or Singapore first for a few days (not a bad idea) and then heading into Japan. It may be cheaper, it may be more expensive, but if you can hit an extra country or two without incurring much more financial damage, it may be worth it!

I’m not sure if you can find better deal, but this one sounds like a good, no hassle, cheap way to take a trip to Japan.

I originally saw this on a blog called Ryoko Japan.

Here is a link to the deal offered through JTB.

I think you can find a way to get to Tokyo cheaper, but if you just want to lay down $1000 and have your 4 nights, 1/2 day Tokyo tour, fuel surcharge, and airfare set, this could be a good deal. I believe this deal flies out of Newark Airport so it’s good for people on the East Coast of the U.S. (West Coast people can probably find even better deals because of the proximity.)

If you are in Japan, and one of your ulterior motives is to take pictures of the scenery and hopefully capture some uniquely Japanese moments, Coming of Age Day is a great day to be in Japan.

Coming of Age Day, called Seijin no Hi in Japanese, is the day that newly turned twenty-year olds are officially welcomed into adulthood. Kids dress up, usually in winter kimonos or suits, although there are no rules about clothing. The day usually starts at the local ward office, city hall, or other gathering place where the mayor or another town official welcomes the new adults into society.

There have famously been some incidences of violence or other vandalism, as well as twenty year olds, finally legally allowed to drink, showing up at the events drunk and making a ruckus. For the most part however, it’s a fun time for all the new adults who take the opportunity to meet up with old friends, have reunions, and go out club and bar hopping in the evening.

For photographers it can be a great day to get shots of young Japanese men and women dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. It’s important to note that it’s illegal to take photos of people without their permission, so it’s best to ask. On Coming of Age day, however, most of the girls have had their hair and nails professionally done, and are wearing their best clothing so in most cases they will be more than happy to pose for you. A lot of the young men may be a little drunk or busy trying to get attention from the young women around them, but I’m sure many would agree to being photographed in their finery.

My only warning to photographers would be not to seem too creepy. There will be security on duty in most of the gathering places in the morning, and there are often stories in the news of older men with super telephoto lenses accused of being a public nuisance and invading the privacy of some of the new adults.

The holiday falls on the second Monday in January every year. Coming of Age Day in 2010 falls on Monday, January 11th. It is a national holiday so expect crowds, but also expect the night spots to be lively, and traditional Japanese clothing or other formal clothing to abound. It’s also one of the few days you’ll see so many people walking around in geta, or the traditional wooden raised sandals worn for centuries in Japan.

In a recent interview, the owner of Coco Ichibanya Curry was asked about the success of his shop in light of the closing of all Wendy’s franchises in Japan.

First I’ll introduce Coco Ichibanya to those of you who are unfamiliar, or who live in Japan but have never ventured inside. Some of them look something like a dive from the outside, but they are one of the most family-friendly restaurants in Japan (going so far as to provide little child seats to put on the toilets, crayons for the kids to use during the short wait for the food to arrive, and the options of little toys or snacks as a dessert after dinner).

They always have an English language menu ready, but the Japanese menu has plenty of pictures as well. A pitcher of water is placed on the table so you never have to wait to quench your thirst.

If you are in Japan with an empty stomach and looking to get that stomach filled with some hot and relatively spicy goodness, Coco Ichibanya is a great place to go.

It’s Japanese curry, which means that if you are a fan of Indian food, you may like it, but you also may not. Most of the toppings are deep-fried, although the menu is quite extensive and includes a wide enough variety for almost any group of people… provided, of course, everyone likes curry and rice.

You can also order your curry however you like it choosing the amount of rice, the specific mix of toppings you want, the level of spiciness of the sauce, and although it doesn’t say it explicitly on the menu, you can ask for extra curry sauce (especially useful for people who prefer extra rice and just want to increase the overall volume of their order).

As to the secret behind the success, founder Tokuji Munetsugu (pictured) has some advice.

He tells restaurant owners not to worry about the competition, but to look at your restaurant through your own eyes, look at your customers, and make sure your shop lives up to your own standards. He claims not to be concerned about shops offering 300 yen bentos, but to make sure he keeps connected with what his customers want.

Munetsugu explains that they are not necessarily inexpensive, nor are they trying to create some kind of unique product. They keep the plates heated, and rather than dump curry from a big overheated pot, the keep their curry warm and then heat it up in a small individual pot for each customer that comes in. He likens this to a Japanese cafe keeping customer’s cups warm and then making them a cup of coffee on the spot instead of refilling it from a big pot of coffee which stays heated and gradually loses its flavor while sitting on a warmer.

He also wants to make sure that even customers that order the pork cutlet or other toppings that take time don’t feel forgotten in the lunchtime rush by announcing out loud that you are making “the cutlet for the guest at the counter”, or making sure to serve customers in the order in which they placed their orders. If an order is taking a little time, he would ask out loud about how a customer’s order is coming. Hearing that makes customers feel that they are important and that they haven’t been forgotten.

In a nutshell he says that the key to success are to listen to your customers and put them first, don’t worry about the competition, and just keep your shop up to your own high standards. If a customer has a problem or complaint, most of them will respond to you if you reach out, show concern, and try to make things right.

The last thing he says is that if you want a successful business, you don’t need friends and hobbies. His final word of advice for young businessmen and people that want to be successful is to wake up early and clean your workspace every morning, and to never be late or take a day off. In fact, to work even harder on the days you feel tired or sick.

Yet again I had to buy airline tickets to travel internationally starting and ending in Japan. Faced with two main options, JTB and H.I.S., again, I gave both of them a chance for my business. I’ll tell my story here, then end with some advice I’d like to give people about buying airline tickets in Japan.

I first went to a local H.I.S. shop where I had bought tickets before. I asked about travel from japan to my city of choice, and gave a list of dates… well, actually I gave a range. Anytime from August 16th until the end of August. The woman behind the counter smiled curtly, and said, I’m sorry but this may take some time. She then proceeded to ask my preferred airline if any, and whether I minded non-Japanese, non-American carriers. I said that I didn’t and she quietly returned to her desk.

After some time she came back with two dates that were the cheapest with open seats. I thanked her and told her I’d get in touch the next day.

That evening I went to JTB. The woman behind the counter came over to help us. I gave her my range of dates and told her upfront that I didn’t mind which carrier. She thought for a moment, walked over to her computer terminal, sat down, hit a few buttons, then came back to me. She said that she wasn’t able to put in a range of dates and asked if I could specify one date.

I asked her to check the two dates for which H.I.S. had given me reasonable prices.

She came back with unreasonable prices of about US$2,800 per ticket.

The next day I returned to H.I.S. to hear that the tickets I’d originally wanted had been sold over the weekend. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind checking a later range of dates until she found a cheap ticket I could use. She asked me for my cell phone number so that I wouldn’t have to stand right there waiting while she checked.

She worked her way through my dates and finally found a good price (albeit with a hectic travel schedule), for a reasonable date. The process took about fifteen minutes, but she found new tickets in the same price range as the previous tickets.

I bought the tickets there, and paid for them all in cash (this is a good thing for people who don’t like debt, a tough thing for people who don’t want to drop thousands of dollars on one purchase all at once).

So here is my brief advice for dealing with H.I.S. an JTB:

• Don’t be shy about giving a range of dates. As the agent at JTB was quick to point out, they can’t search a range of dates for cheap available airline tickets, but as the HIS clerk demonstrated, if they want your business they can do the necessary legwork to satisfy their customers.
• State upfront that you do not necessarily need a Japanese or American airline for your trip. Sometimes China Airlines or other asian carriers are offering the best deals.
• Try to go to the shop in person, if possible, when business is slow, but not around lunchtime. It is nice to be the only customer at the counter because your agent can also easily ask the advice of other agents.
• Try different shops. You may get bad service at one JTB and good service at another. It often depends on the agent you get and how willing that agent is to work for your business.
• Ask about things such as the fuel surcharge. This will vary by carrier and could really affect the total price of your flight. (A quick note: fuel surcharges are zero for the months of August and September! No telling if this deal will extend into October or if the fuel surcharge will return with a vengeance.)
• Ask about your seats, meals, and anything else you might be concerned with. One of the benefits of using a travel agent is having someone who is accountable to help you figure things out.
• If you can, travel during the Japanese off-season. Ticket prices could be really cheap when planes are not full of families traveling during the summer vacation and obon, or during the winter.