Japan Know How archive
Japanese Food
The unexplained dish served at an izakaya usually is not free. Learn how an otoshi works, where its per-person price appears, when you can decline it, and how to calculate the real cost before sitting down.
Japanese Phrases
Both mean no thanks at a register. Kekkou desu carries distance and can sting; daijoubu desu is the soft everyday one. When each fits and who says it.
Japanese Beauty
Hada Labo, Curel, Melano CC and a lotion made from sake. What each brand is for, what it costs in yen, and which ones ship to the US unchanged.
Japanese Phrases
Iie is rare in real refusals. Chotto, muzukashii and a trailing pause do the work. How to decline clearly and how to hear a no aimed at you.
Japanese Food
Standing them upright in rice and passing food tip to tip both copy funeral rites. The taboos that genuinely matter, the ones that do not, and rests.
Japanese Beauty
Edo bathers scrubbed with a bag of rice bran, and modern brands built a legend on brewery workers' hands. What studies show, and what stays folklore.
Japanese Food
A Ginza counter runs 15,000 to 40,000 yen, and the same format in the US often costs more. Booking rules, no-show fees, and what omakase does not mean.
Japanese Phrases
Japanese listeners answer every few seconds with hai, ee and sou desu ne. Say nothing and you read as bored. The five sounds and their timing.
Japanese Beauty
Tsubaki oil is mostly oleic acid, pressed from camellia seeds on southern islands. What it is used for, what it will not do, and how fast it goes rancid.
Chinese Zodiac
Cards, stamps, shrine plaques and department store windows: the animal arrives in November and is gone by February. What to send, buy and look for.
