Featured

sushi chefs

Former sushi chef serves onigiri rice balls for breakfast at new morning restaurant in Japan

A breakfast place so good it’s only open for around three hours every morning.

Read More

Tokyo’s all-female sushi chef restaurant has closed down, is being dismantled

End of the line for Akihabara’s barrier-challenging Nadeshiko Sushi.

Read More

How well do you know your sushi? New 3-D puzzle toy from Japan helps you become a salmon pro

Live out your dreams of becoming a Japanese sushi chef with this fun educational toy. 

Read More

Shota no Sushi fan who became sushi chef just earned a Michelin star for his new restaurant

Manga can really inspire you to pursue your dreams!

Read More

Master sushi chef effortlessly slices and dices vegetables while blindfolded【Video】

Master sushi chef Hiroyuki Terada shows us why he’s a cut above the rest.

Read More

Four things women are banned from doing in Japan【Women in Japan Series】

Women have been prohibited from doing certain things (entering places, using facilities, etc.) for as long as civilization has existed. Restrictions are still common, albeit usually in religious contexts only. While religions themselves evolve and change with the times and bans are lifted, it doesn’t mean all of them get an update.

As women, we all know the purported reasons behind these bans: women are “impure” because we menstruate (the same impure biological process that allows us to give life to men), we are the physically weaker sex, and we distract men with our beauty. Yada, yada, yada.

Today, in our Women in Japan Series, we take a look at four things women are still not allowed to do in Japan. I’ve divided them into bans and semi-bans. Bans allow no women; semi-bans allow women–but only sometimes.

Of course, it’s high time these restrictions were lifted. While much headway has been made in the past, such as the lifting of the rule preventing women from climbing Mount Fuji, other bans are proving more stubborn despite protests by Japanese women’s groups. Will these restrictions be lifted anytime soon? Only the Japanese people can decide.

Read More