Featured Recipe: Japanese Karage

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Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to make Karage (Japanese Fried Chicken)

You will need the following:

  • 10 boneless chicken thighs
  • ½ cup potato starch
  • Oil for deep frying
  • Lettuce leaves for garnish

Ingredients to make the marinade:

  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
  • 4 tablespoons sake
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Karage cooking instructions:

  1. Cube the thighs into bite-size portions.
  2. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl with the chicken. Mix well and let it sit for approximately 30 minutes.
  3. Heat cooking oil to approximately 170°C/340°F.
  4. Coat the chicken with potato starch and place in the deep fryer.
  5. Fry for approximately 4 minutes, until they are crispy and golden brown.
  6. Drain well and serve with lettuce.
Japanese Karage Fried Chicken

Japanese Karage Fried Chicken

Several Approaches to Saying Hello in Japanese

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One of the most common words to saying hello in the Japanese language is Konnichiwa. The word Konnichiwa actually translates to saying hello in the afternoon time but it is also a broad method of saying hello in Japanese. When you travel to Japan it is possible to use Konnichiwa in various situations but there are many more ways to say hello in Japan.

Here are some general tips for meeting and greeting Japanese people.

Do not act too overly friendly from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, the Japanese are actually very friendly but they are quite shy when you initially meet them.

So if you are meeting a Japanese person for the very first time, for work or a friendship then you should try to stay fairly formal for the first couple of weeks.

Perhaps formal is the wrong word. What I am saying is never try to show off to them in the beginning.

The exact same goes for whenever you are being taught by a Japanese language teacher, you ought to act in a respectful manner. Even after some time, you need to maintain your respect to the Japanese language trainer.

You can read a detailed guide on how to speak Japanese which has advanced strategies on learning Japanese and other Japanese language tutorials.

Another good way to speak hello in Japanese is the words Ohayo Gozaimasu and you should say them first thing in the morning. Or you can just say Ohayo but only use that when you know the Japanese person really well.

As you have almost certainly guessed by now, there are so many different approaches which you can say hello using the Japanese language. There are also quite a few informal methods to say hello as well.

If you want an informal way to say hello to a friend in the morning then you can say Oha. And if you are both males then you can just say Yo. Again, only use these with very good friends.

Please ensure you are very careful when saying hello to people in authority and never use the informal approaches with them. The exact same goes for older Japanese people and the same also goes for Japanese people you meet for the first time.

For the instances above, I’d personally suggest you keep to the formalized methods of interacting with the Japanese individual, just to be sure.

This post was written by a guest contributor, Frank Miller from helloinjapanese.org

Japan: It’s cheaper than you think

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Ok, so no one is saying it is the cheapest country in the world – flights to Japan alone make most people shudder – but on arrival and with a few ’in the know’ travel tips, you can get by in Japan on a budget. After all, this trip could turn out to be one of the most compelling experiences of your life as you absorb a country that is both technologically driven yet deeply committed to its historic traditions. So, take your travel essentials; accommodation, transport and food, and let’s see what cut backs we can arrange to make your travel currency go further…

Accommodation

Turn your attention away from the slick high rise hotels, especially in the big cities. Instead, look for cheap Tokyo accommodation in a local hostel, many of which are family-run and which operate on a friendly and more intimate scale. Suddenly, you will find yourself paying more like €15-€25 per person ($22-36 / 1750-2900 JPY), per night in a shared – and sometimes private – room in a hostel, than in excess of €50 in a hotel ($72 / 5800 JPY). You will still have plenty of great facilities to hand including air-conditioning, self-catering facilities, free Internet access and a central location. Geared to budget travelers, you can also quiz hostel staff on the best budget places to eat, drink and where to experience life as a local. You can find cheap accommodation all over Japan including a Kyoto hostel or the family-run ryokans some with traditional tatami sleeping mats if you fancy an authentic experience.

Transport

The efficiency of the Tokyo metro is infamous and late-running trains are almost unheard of. They are also a cost-effective way to get around and a one-day ticket for use on the Tokyo metro costs about €6 ($9 / 700 JPY). A combi ticket which includes unlimited journeys on the metro, Toei lines and buses will set you back €12 a day ($18 / 1400 JPY). If you don’t want to mess around with tickets each day, order yourself a PASMO card. Similar to the London Oyster card, this is a reloadable card which you place on an electronic reader as you go through the gates. You can use it on all Tokyo public transport too so it is very convenient. Purchase at ticket machines and station offices. But the ultimate cheap way to get around Tokyo is…on foot.

Tokyo underground subway sign

To travel further afield, skip Japan domestic flights, these are pricey. Instead, buy a JR Rail Pass before your trip – you cannot buy these within Japan – which permits travel on trains (except the fastest bullet train, ‘shinkansen’), ferries and buses too. You might also want to consider overnight buses which are not only cheap, they will save on a night in a hotel. However, this can be quite a tiring and uncomfortable way to travel.

Food

Hit the supermarkets and pick up some ingredients to cook back at your hostel’s guest kitchen. These might include fresh produce, but you’d be forgiven if you reach for the ultimate cheap food in Japan – instant ramen noodles at about €2 pop! You can also pick-up little containers of pre-prepared sushi and rice balls from the supermarket too which are ideal for a picnic.

The conveyor belt sushi shops in Japan are a world apart from the stuff you are used to back home. As long as you can demonstrate some self-control – the bill starts adding up if you scoff too many dishes – you can expect to pay between €2 and €4 per plate ($3-6 / 233-466 JPY).

convenyor belt moving sushi

Standing will also save you money. You can slurp away at a bowl of hot noodles in low-key noodle shops and curry houses. The cheapest can be found down the backstreets, away from the main roads. It’s a sort of Japanese fast food with business men and locals after a quick bite before heading to the office. The yatai, small mobile food stands serve a similar purpose in the evenings, but while you might have experienced dodgy kebab vans or questionable hot dog stands back home, here, the yatai dish up grilled skewered fish, octopus legs and frozen yogurt.

Madeleine Wilson is a travel writer for HostelBookers, the budget accommodation specialist. She lives and works in London.

Best bar closing time… EVER!

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This closing time is can be either awesome, or trouble… but if you live outside of the city and miss your midnight train from Hakata, it could be a great place to hang out until the trains start running again at 6am… if you can stay awake.

Japan bar closing time

If you're the only customer left, the staff will probably stay until you leave! (I've seen it happen before)

170% Coffee – No WAY!

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Me and a (gaijin) friend of mine were heading to play some darts at Cybac and he handed me a can of coffee. The can said – Coffee 170%! No way can they fit 170% coffee inside a can that’s not 70% bigger! After some deciphering we decided it means +70% of the normal amount of coffee beans were used to make this delicious beverage. I’ve had conversations at a cafe while drinking hot coffee, but this is my first canned coffee conversation.

170 Percent Canned Coffee in Japan

170 Percent Coffee? I'm sold!


By the way… for those of you that order coffee online you can free shipping on most orders and get $5 off at ROASTe by entering a coupon code BLOGME5.

How to sell everything, move to Japan, and keep a U.S. address

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You’ve decided to let go and move overseas. It’s time to sell as much as you can, if not everything! I sold stuff at a flea market, in the newspaper, using Craigslist, and on eBay, and I had a garage sale. I donated some household items and clothing, and the rest of my stuff I just gave away for free. These methods helped me get rid of everything I owned in the U.S.

But what about staying in contact with your home country? You know… a phone number, voice mail, and a mailing address? Sure you can use your parents address or another family members address and this would be the most affordable way, but sometimes it feels good not to have to rely on anybody to get things done. Here are some steps on how to make it happen on your own terms.

  1. Get a new address first using a 3rd party service. You could use the service Mailboxes Etc, but it’s not convenient. I recommend an online service such as Earth Class Mail. They’ll email you, scan your mail, even forward things to you. It’s important to do this first because once you decide where you’ll be getting your mail you need to get a notarized copy of USPS Form 1583 to authorize the service to receive mail on your behalf. Get this done at a notary or your local bank. But watch those fee totals! You’ll be paying a monthly fee + scanning fees + mail forwarding fees. Last year I spent a more than $1200 USD on this service. This year I’m estimated to spend about $800.
  2. Keep one credit card with a small limit. This is my recommendation so you can shop online more securely. You don’t want to become a victim of fraud where somebody drains your Bank Debit Card and you have to fight with your bank (while in Japan) about how to get your money back. You can check your credit score free at Credit Karma and they also can recommend credit cards based on your score.
  3. Get a bank account you want to keep for a long time or forever that offers nice online banking and minimal fees. You’ll need this to pay bills that may come up, etc. I have a checking account but I also bank with Capital One for savings (high yield money market account) and the cheapest withdrawals. I also just got a Charles Schwab savings account. They told me they don’t charge a conversion fee and reimburse ATM fees worldwide. I also signed up with mint.com to track all of my bank accounts from one login.
  4. Get a PayPal account and tie it to your bank account and any credit card you need to. Sometimes it’s a convenient solution to paying people or to buy products, but you should consider getting it even though you might not use it. I can access Paypal on my iPhone!
  5. I run my business online (from my ‘virtual office’ aka laptop) so I also have a fax number. I got a free fax number from j2.com so I can receive faxes. I also then use a  send-only service like Green Fax to send outgoing faxes using my email.
  6. More than 90 days before moving, renew your driving license for the longest time possible. This way you can use it to get an International Driving License, and when you return home it might still be valid. Why 90 days? Well sometimes if you have the proper visa it can be transferred to a Japanese license. Please don’t ask me about this, I have no idea how to do this or the rules because I use the subway. On a side note – make sure your passport is current!
  7. Secure your internet connection. When you do online banking, work, and even Facebook it’s a good idea to use a VPN. I use proXPN’s VPN service on my laptop and my iPhone. proXPN works great in Japan and gives me a dynamic USA IP address. They do offer a limited free version, but I pay for the premium membership for unlimited speed and server locations. Before using a VPN I’ve gotten locked out of my PayPal account a handful of times and my regular bank account. And wow, it is a pain to get the accounts verified and re-verified when you need your money asap. I’ve even had to verify orders I make in America or the UK over the phone because my IP was coming from Japan or wait for mail to be delivered and scanned. The benefit of using a VPN service is you’ll be able to encrypt your internet connection at home, at an internet cafe, wifi hotspot, and even on your smart phone. We’re talking serious business here… 2048 bit VPN encryption for my laptop and 128 bit for my iPhone at the same time (it’s basically 2 accounts for the price of one)! ProXPN let’s me choose the server I connect to each time (USA, UK, Singapre, Netherlands…) I’ve also been able to use geographically restricted sites like Hulu and U.S. network TV and even listen to Pandora online.
  8. Secure your laptop. Most likely you’ll have everything on your laptop (banking, contact info, important documents, photos, etc) and it’s stuff you can’t afford to lose. It’s a good idea to sign up for LogMeIn (even the free account) in case you lose your laptop or it gets stolen. I used to use 2GB of free online storage with DropBox and treat it as “My Documents” but then I switched to SugarSync that offers 5GB of free storage and multiple folder backup, then I back everything up using Carbonite in case my hard drive crashes.
  9. Get a phone number. One that you can receive calls to and originates from your home country. I recommend doing this through Skype. It’s a solid VOIP company and I haven’t had any problems over the last 3+ years. For $60 a year you’ll have a number your friends and family can call to talk to you, leave voice mails, and you can use it to call phones for an unlimited amount of to the US and Canada. If you’re from another country then visit their site for more details on what they offer. I can use Skype on my iPhone! So that’s an added bonus.

And there you have – those are my tips for moving overseas and living in Japan or a another country abroad while still having a presence in the United States. It’s all about living a location independent lifestyle! If I think of anything else I’ll update this blog entry. If you have any useful tips please post them in the comments section.

  1. Get a phone number. I recommend doing this through Skype. It’s a solid VOIP company and I haven’t had any problems over the last 3 years. For $60 a year you’ll have a number your friends and family can call to talk to you, leave voice mails, and you can use it to call phones for an unlimited amount of to the US and Canada. If you’re from another country then visit their site for more details. I can use Skype on my iPhone! So that’s an added bonus.

How to Help Japan: Tsunami and Earthquake Disaster Relief

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You can help Japan after the diaster! You can easily donate $10 or more by donating online or sending a text message (from the U.S.A.) – just text to REDCROSS or 90999 to make $10 donation by text message. Here are the many organizations set up to help Japan and those affected during their time of need. Most of the donations are tax deductible as well. Continue reading →

Japan’s 2011 Tsunami and Earthquake Videos & Photos

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March 11, 2011 – what a terrible day. The north coast of Japan was hit by a horrible tsunami after an 8.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred 80 miles offshore. And now there’s a fear of a nuclear disaster. I was contacted by Fox News, The Today Show, and CNN for an interview but I declined because I’m on Kyushu Island living in Fukuoka, and we’re all safe here because it’s far away from where the catastrophe happened. Even though this is true, people are buying up water and instant ramen noodles from the local supermarkets. Now that makes me worry!

If you are looking for a missing person in Japan or know something about a missing person, please visit this website. And here’s the link to the US embassy in Japan.

As a friend noted – The saddest part of this disaster in Japan is that it hit the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country. Most of the victims were fishermen, farmers, and the elderly. They did not live the high fashion, high technology, and trendy lives we see depicted in Tokyo life.

Thousands of people are dead, thousands are missing, over half a million people are homeless, and aftershocks keep creeping up. If you want to get involved, visit this link to learn how to help Japan! And here’s a link to the National Geographic Documentary.

Continue reading →

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