2018 is officially underway in Japan!

In Japan, there are a couple of go-to options for celebrating New Year’s. Some people go to a temple or shrine to pray for health and happiness. Others visit relatives, meet up with friends, relax in a hot spring, or just sleep until noon.

We’re trying to check off as many items on that list as we can, plus a few others, such as eating as many New Year’s themed desserts as possible (even though we’re still recovering from our Christmas KFC food coma), so you might be hearing a little less from us over the next few days. We’ll be back in action again soon, though…after all, those McDonald’s Japan caramel popcorn drinks that go on sale later this week aren’t going to drink themselves, right?

To all of you who visited our site in 2017, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and we look forward to bringing you more news, both wonderful and weird, from Japan and Asia in 2018.

Top image: Wanpagu