Cyclists, chaos, and cultural contrasts on Japanese roads The other day I had dinner with a Swiss friend, who was visiting Japan for the very first time. We settled down for a pre-dinner drink, and he started telling me about his day in Akihabara, Tokyo’s buzzing shopping hub packed with electronics stores, and a magnet for overseas visitors. The place is like Disneyland for tech geeks - you can find anything from a simple camera to a robot that will do your laundry, and ma

Health checks, ageing, and expat life in Japan Imagine yourself as both a human and a ship, navigating life’s unpredictable waters. One special day a year, you transform into a sleek, high-tech vessel - a floating marvel of health consciousness. Your mission? To reach the shores of optimal well-being and longevity. Japan boasts one of the world’s highest life expectancies, and it’s not just due to sushi and matcha tea (although those certainly help!). Disease prevention pla

Heat, humidity, and cultural resilience in Japan Stepping outside in Tokyo these days is like walking into a brick wall. The humid air clings to you like wrapping film around a sushi roll, and you wonder if Japan has secretly relocated to the equator overnight. However, Google Maps insists we’re still in the same spot. So, there can only be one explanation: Summer has arrived! 35 degrees Celsius for the last couple of days, and judging by the forecast, this is just the warm-u

A Swiss search for familiar flavours in Tokyo I have just returned from a 3-week long trip to Europe, to visit family and friends. Apart from the observation that everything is jaw-droppingly expensive over there now, 'curtesy of' an ultra-weak yen, I came across something that is incredibly popular in Europe, yet is seemingly unknown in Japan: Aperol Spritz. For anyone not familiar with the drink: The Aperol Spritz is an Italian wine-based cocktail, commonly served as an apé

Navigating Japan’s address system with Swiss logic It may come as a surprise to many outside of Japan that most streets here don't have a name. The notable exception are main streets, expressways and toll roads. But your ordinary residential street will always be nameless. Why is that? Japan uses a highly complex, area-based addressing system dating back to the Meiji era (1868 - 1912). Towns are typically subdivided into smaller areas with names, and then into smaller blocks

Outdoor eating, cultural quirks, and Swiss comparisons With days - and evenings - getting warmer, I feel myself drawn to restaurant terraces and street cafés - not that they can exactly be found in abundance in Japan, mind you! Since my other half is away for a few days and the weather is absolutely glorious at the moment, last night I decided to stroll to the nearby shopping area and have dinner at our favourite Italian-Spanish restaurant, the only one left within walking di

A Swiss expat battles Japan’s driving bureaucracy A few months ago I mentioned that my old Swiss Driving Licence was going to lose its validity this year, as Swiss authorities will now only accept the new licence in credit card format. I appreciate that Switzerland is moving with the times. The conundrum is that the new licence is only issued to folks residing in Switzerland, essentially leaving Swiss nationals living abroad out in the cold. So in order to continue to drive l

Safety, trust, and cultural contrasts in daily life Japanese banks and credit card companies take security very, very seriously. Which would seem to be a good thing, right? Except, they often take it to such extremes that it can be super frustrating for the user. The thing is that I travel and shop overseas quite frequently, and ever so often when using an overseas website, my card is blocked because the purchase is flagged as potentially fraudulent. When I say overseas websi

Weather, rituals, and seasonal extremes across Japan As I'm writing this, it's 3 degrees Celsius outside in the middle of the day, and the mercury is not expected to rise much further than that today... Hard to believe that barely 3 days ago I was having lunch on the terrace of a pizzeria in the centre of Tokyo, with a balmy 23 degrees, and with one specific type of cherry tree ('Kawazu Sakura' ) already in bloom nearby! This being February, I knew, of course, that the lovely

Chocolate, customs, and cultural surprises in Japan Valentine's Day: A day when couples demonstrate their love for each other by giving each other cards and presents across the globe. Well, with one exception: Japan! Because as Christmas Eve in Japan has taken the top spot in the calendar as the favourite day for lovers and couples (if you wonder why, take a look at one of my previous posts: Christmas in Japan - KFC and Christmas Cake), I guess they had to slightly re-purpose

Swiss craftsmanship and cultural pride across continents As my Swiss passport was due to expire in a few months' time, I thought it best to get a new one ahead of time. Always be prepared, is one of my mantras. These days the process of renewing a passport is very straightforward: I just had to fill in an online form and submit to the Passport Office in Switzerland, and within less than 24 hours I got confirmation that they had the necessary confidence that I am indeed who I

When Japan pauses and the Swiss expat watches Monday saw a blizzard in Tokyo, which dumped 8 cm of snow in the capital. Although 'dumped' doesn't quite seem to hit the right note, as it would seem to be more adequate in connection with at least half a metre of snow... 8 cm doesn't sound like much, and it isn't - at least not to someone from an Alpine nation used to snow (heck, I even did my driving test on snow-covered roads). Yet, whenever there is more than a centimetre of

Discovering Japan’s bathing culture as a Swiss newcomer Growing up in Switzerland in the 70s, our house had two bathrooms, a bigger one with a bathtub, mainly reserved for our parents, and a slightly smaller one with a shower, predominantly used by my brother and me. I actually don't think that the shower was being used much in those days, at least as far as I remember, and certainly not by us kids. We would just wash our faces upon getting up in the morning, and then once a

Beyond cheese: Swiss cuisine explained from Japan As I enter my 28th year in Japan (and my former life on 'planet Switzerland' is drifting more and more into the obscure past), I have been reflecting on the fact that some of the questions I face when meeting new people in Japan have never changed over the years. Japanese people generally show great interest in other countries and cultures, and especially so, it seems, in Switzerland. Switzerland enjoys kind of a special statu

Japan’s adulthood rituals seen through Swiss curiosity Today is one of those days when, walking around town, I'm truly reminded that I live in Japan, as the sight that presents itself wherever one goes cannot be observed anywhere else in the world. The reason? It's 'Coming of Age Day' ('Seijin no Hi'), a public holiday and the most important day in the calendar for all those who have turned 20 and therefore the age of maturity, and it is held in order to congratulate and enco

Running, resilience, and life in earthquake‑prone Japan Growing up in an alpine nation, where winter sports traditionally play a big role, New Year's Day was inevitably accompanied by the New Year's Ski Jumping competition, which takes place every year in the German ski resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and is broadcast live on German, Swiss and Austrian TV stations. There were always two fixtures in our TV schedule on this day: The live coverage of the New Year's Concert from

Traditions, rituals, and quiet celebrations across Japan New Year ('shōgatsu' ) is undoubtedly the most important holiday in Japan. And as with many other things in this country, expect it to be different! In contrast to Western cultures, the New Year's Holidays are generally not a time for parties and fireworks (the latter being reserved for summer festivals), but a time for reflection and to be spent with family - actually not unlike what Christmas is to many in the Western

KFC, cake, and cultural twists on a global holiday Christmas in Japan is - like many things in this country - different! On the surface, nothing seems to set it apart from Western countries: Stores deck the halls with boughs of holly, baubles and all of that, and carols float out over the speakers wherever you go. There are beautifully illuminated Christmas trees, and you can find roasted chestnuts, mulled wine and all of the other ingredients for a winter wonderland, at leas

More chaos, courtesy, and contradictions behind the wheel In my previous post I recounted my experience with a 'part-time one-way street' and the traffic offence I inadvertently committed, as I hadn't even been aware of the sign indicating that I was driving down a street with certain restrictions. But truth be told: Even if I had actually noticed the sign, chances are that I would probably still not have understood it anyway... The thing is that Japanese authorities are mast

A Swiss driver confronts Japan’s roads, rules, and surprises First of all, here is a bit of trivia: There are 64 countries in the world where cars drive on the left - including Japan. What the countries basically have in common is that they all have a colonial past with the British Empire. So when was Japan colonised by the Brits, you ask? Well, it wasn't! So how come then that people in Japan drive on the left? There are two common theories: The first goes that at the time o