If candy and sweet things are more your speed then read all about Japanese candy at NYMag.

Leah Dizon, a Gravure Idol (read bikini model and video star) in Japan, recently got married and W. David Marx talks about the Japanese entertainment industry in an interesting article at his blog, Neojaponisme.

The Jenss family blog about their visit to Tokyo at Intelligent Travel.

Image Credit:  Flickr, Candy Stand

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Geisha, Interrupted, a fellow Japan blogger and writer of the book “Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess” was featured in the Japan Times.  Read the Geisha, Interrupted interview and check out some of the other bloggers who have been included in the Japan Times Blogroll.

Tracing the roots and of “The Tale of Genji”, the epic novel about Japan that celebrates its 1,000th anniversary this year.

An editorial on Japan as a tourist destination from The Japan Times talks about what Japan has to do to meet its goal of increasing the number of foreign visitors.

Image Credit:  Wikiimedia, Illustration Genji Monogatari Musée Saint-Remi 928 3

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Check out some of the videos on the Japan National Tourist Organizations YouTube Channel.

Have you heard about the banana diet fad in Japan?

Allegations of fixed matches and more in the world of Sumo Wrestling.

Tokyo – Eat Like a Local is featured in the October issue of Budget Travel.

Lastly, read about the Jenns family travels in Japan at Intelligent Travel.

Image Credit:  Wikimedia, Iwasa Katsushige 001

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Liv wrote a piece about why sometimes it’s easier to pretend that you don’t understand Japanese in Someone’s Knocking at the Door.

Nick tell’s us about the struggles of having a foreign name in Japan in What’s my name?

Jaimapanese talks about his strategy to learn Japanese with a combination of Anime, Manga and video games and claims that “Learning Japanese is complicated but not difficult“.

My contribution was a few handy kanji for travelers.

More serious students of the language will enjoy some of the other submissions to “The Language of Japan” Japan Blog Matsuri, but I must admit that some are a bit over my head – I’m barely a beginner!

For people like me, whose foreign language skills aren’t even close to fluent,  10 places to find someone who speaks English is a good resource written by Mary Jo at Fly Away Cafe.  There are actually more than ten as additional suggestions can be found in the comments on the article.

That’s it for this weeks Nihon on the Net.  If you have a craving for news in between editions be sure to check out JapanSoc, Japan’s #1 Social Bookmarking Site.  It keeps me up to date with what others are reading and talking about in the world of Japan news and opinion and I would encourage you to participate if you want to read more than what I can present here once a week.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

As seen on CNN!  Check out this weeks Offbeat iReport images to see one of my shots from the Tokyo Cow Parade 2008.

What worries the Japanese?  Earthquakes and global warming top the list of worries.

Your favorite English language magazine in Tokyo may be hard to find due to the bankruptcy of a major distributor.

Baseball legend Sadaharu Oh has announced that her will retire at the end of the season.  Did you take advantage of the opportunity to see him manage a baseball game in Tokyo this summer?

Maison de la Bourgogne offers French food and fine wine in Kagurazaka.

A kamikaze pilot volunteer turns to the tea ceremony in New York.

In other cultures there are jug-bands but in Japan they have a man who plays a spade that sounds remarkably like the shamisen, an ancient Japanese stringed instrument.  A spade is not always a spade!

Image Credit:  Wikimedia Commons, Shamisen

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Manma

How Japan’s antiquated baseball system is being challenged, again…this time by a semi-pro player.

Have you heard of Metabolic Syndrome?  It’s commonly spoken about in Japan and the government has mandated employers to counsel workers suffering from the syndrome.  Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of the most dangerous risk factors for a heart attack and one of the tell-tale signs is a bulging waistline.

Shochu, a Japanese alcoholic beverage, has made its way to Chicago in a restaurant and bar of the same name.

Mark at Let’s Japan has come up with 10 reasons to visit Japan based on the plots of movies set here.

Check out Off the Books in Tokyo for a list of things to see and do that may not be in your guidebook.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Japanese drink maker Yakult will begin selling Probiotic drinks in at Fry’s stores in Arizona following successful launches in central and southern California and the San Francisco Bay area.

Food scandals are making the news in Japan – Firms are being caught selling food that is not fit for human consumption to foods that are past their expiry date.

The dating market in Japan is heating up along with the popularity of middle-aged men. 

Lastly, Vice-presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin, is helping out one Japanese eyeglass manufacturer in Fukui, Japan.  Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co. Ltd makes her signature titanium MP-704 glasses and has seen sales increase along with Palin’s profile.  The article talks about the glasses and features a freakish action figure of Palin created by herobuilders.com that has to be seen to be believed.  The guys over at Sirened would love it!

Image Credit:  Flickr, Yakult

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Japan Blogger – Top 5 Highest Rated Blogs in August

1. Raid my Mini Bar about Japanese Music and Pop Culture
2. The Tokyo Traveler
3. Japan Soc, a Digg-like social bookmarking site covering all things Japan.
4. 7:10 to Tokyo covering news and commentary from Japan.
5. Japan or Die offers a variety of information about living in or visiting Japan.

If you want to read more blogs about Japan be sure to stop by Japan Blogger.

Another option is to follow Japan Blogs on twitter which offers a tweet whenever a new post is published by one of the 50 blogs that talk about Japan travel tips, fashion, anime, news and current affairs and other great stuff.  This group was started by my fellow Japan blogger, Neil Duckett, and is a great resource if you are an avid twitter user or just want to get a snapshot of what’s being talked about in the Japan blogoshpere at any given point in time.

It’s a great time to be blogging about Japan and there are a lot of great voices out there.  Why not check some of them out?

I am Shane Sakata on twitter – follow me to find out what I’m up to and what I’ll be blogging about next.  Let’s talk about Tokyo – I’d love to hear from you!

Image Credit: Japan Blogger, used with permission

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

10 things about Tokyo that will blow your mind by MatadorTrips.  Mind-blowing, maybe not, but still an interesting read.

Busses in Japan are a cost effective alternative to taking the famous bullet train, better know as the shinkansen, in Japan.

The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan offers 73 minutes of traditional music from the land of the rising sun.  Paul Fisher compiled the CD and was interviewed by The Japan Times.

Ageing gracefully in Japan? The myths surrounding the perfectly cute 50 year old.

Critics dispute Michelin regard for Tokyo but there are some restaurants that everyone agrees on.

With an ageing population, Japan’s temples struggle to remain financially self sufficient.

Image Credit: Flickr, Nothing to Hide

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler

Tae Kim, next months host, talks about Google Street View of Japan in Google, what will they think of next? at Guide to Japanese.

Mark Ramsay presents Tokyo, Japan: The Electric City at Virtual Tripping.

Bill Belew shares Impressions of Tokyo – Is That All There Is? at EastAsiaFair.

Tori “The Chemist” Johnson presents “A Night in Ikebukuro” at Daily J.

Jason talks about traversing Tokyo Station in At 300 km/h – Impressions of Tokyo at Jason’s Random Thoughts.

Jordan shares some chance encounters in Tokyo Stories: Impressions of Tokyo at Chirimotsumoreba.

Billy West presents Looking Into the Abyss: First Impressions of Tokyo at 7:10 to Tokyo.

Christy Varonfakis Johnson shares her Impressions of Tokyo and some photos at On Focus Photo Blog.

Lulu presents For the love of Tokyo… at Cherry Blossom Adventures.

Chris presents First impressions of Tokyo: A City of Contrasts at Nihongo Notes. 

Mark shares the Taking Tokyo Taxi Challenge at PNN Tokyo Stories.

Nick Ramsay tells us about the New Narita Express Coming 2009 at LongCountdown.com.

An my contribution was Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan, author Lafcadio Hearn’s impressions of Japan which he wrote over a hundred years ago and are still relevant today.

Thanks to all who participated and shared their Impressions of Tokyo.  Next months Japan Blog Matsuri will be hosted by Tae Kim at Guide to Japanese and the topic will be “The Language of Japan”.  All you need to do to join in the fun is to write a post on the subject and submit it here before September 20th.

The Japan Blog Matsuri was revived by Nick Ramsay, creator of JapanSoc, a great social networking site for those interested in Japan.

Image Credit:  Personal Collection

Post from: The Tokyo Traveler