Category Archives: Photos

IWATE, Dec. 18 – People are trying to cheer up themselves and others by preparing special new-year celebrations while the pandemic continues. Ikuko Kikuchi in Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture, put her every thought into her new-year arrangements at home to wish that the new year will be peaceful and that she can invite someone home again. ・Demonstrating her omotenashi-mind inside and outside “The theme of the arrangements is ‘Welcome to our home!’ I made three arrangements for the entrance to express my wish to welcome my guests. I put a fresh-picked cabbage, a head of broccoli, and other vegetables in a mortar. By doing so, I want to show that … Continue reading →

GIFU, Nov. 28 – A highway express bus with a bus wrap of newly-designed Hida beef images will start operating on November 28, 2020. A council of Hida beef producers and a local bus operator, Nohi Noriai Jidosha Co., Ltd., will operate the Hida beef wrapping bus for three years, mainly on the routes that connect Takayama with Nagoya and Tokyo. On one side, the bus has an impressive image of a woman eating Hida beef, and on the other side, it has a 3-D image of big beautiful pieces of Hida beef. It runs across Japan to boost the Hida beef industry’s operation, which was hit hard by the … Continue reading →

KANAGAWA, Nov. 12 – A shop in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, is now super-busy making cow-shaped lucky dolls called “eto daruma” for sales during the year change period. Arai Darumaya is an old firm specialized in producing “Soshu daruma,” a papier-mache doll with a long-established tradition that dates back to the Keio era, more than 150 years ago. The shop makes an original animal-shaped daruma doll every year as a lucky charm for the new year. In the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2021 is the year of the ox, so it’s currently making the dolls in the shape of a milking cow. The local artisans paste several pieces of “washi” traditional paper … Continue reading →

HYOGO, Nov. 2 – A Japanese wagyu beef breeder in Kami, Hyogo Prefecture, the town known as one of the producers of high-quality Tajima-brand beef, is actively sharing his warm views on wagyu and scenes from his daily life on a video-sharing website YouTube. Despite being a certified cattle hoof trimmer and a super-busy manager of the farm that also handles meat processing and direct sales, the 42-year-old cattleman has created over 240 “CowTube” videos so far. “I want to show the deep and rich part of the life of a cattleman,” he said. “Hi, I’m Kazuma Tanaka from Tanaka Chikusan!” His YouTube post always starts with this cheerful greeting. … Continue reading →