Fukuoka Japan

Fukuoka located on the island of Kyushu in Japan has been voted one of Frommers Top Travel Destinations for 2012.

Fukuoka is the biggest city in Kyushu and is about 880km west of Tokyo. Fukuoka is not as widely known on the International scene as some of Japan’s other big cities, but has transformed itself over the last decade into one of Japan’s most cosmopolitan and internationalised cities. Fukuoka has been placed in the spotlight recently as a model green city and all of this has taken place before the March disaster bought energy conserving measures throughout Japan.

Fukuoka serves Japan as a major domestic and international gateway and is connected to Tokyo and southern Kyushu by the Shinkansen bullet train. The city itself is very vibrant and user-friendly offering expansive parks, museums, shopping and entertainment. In Japan, the city is known for its beautiful women, known as ‘Hakata bijin’ and its feisty baseball team called the Daiei Hawks.

The main sights of Fukuoka include:

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine – one of the main shrines in Japan dedicated to Tenjin

Kyushu National Museum - the first new national museum in Japan in over 100 years

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum – some of the finest Asian Contemporary Art

Canal City Hakata – Fukuoka’s six-building shopping and entertainment complex

Space World theme park – a popular theme park created in 1990 and featuring a space theme

By Shinkansen

Fukuoka is 5 hours from Tokyo and costs 22,000 yen on the Nozomi

By Air

Approx 110 mins by air from Tokyo's Haneda Airport

Read about the other Top Destinations 2012 Winners

McDonald's Japan Big America Burgers are Back in 2012

The McDonald’s Japan Big America Burgers have returned for 2012. If you loved the previous editions of the burger get ready for the set of four being released this year. The series has already started with the Grand Canyon Burger released at the end of December.

The Grand Canyon Burger offered a quarter-pound beef patty with “steak filling,” cooked egg, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, crispy onions, steak sauce (with soy and "smoked" flavors) and an extra middle bun.

The Las Vegas Burger has just made its debut and is topped with a spicy sauteed sliced beef, onion “salsa”, and drizzled with special cream cheese sauce.

Las Vegas Burger

Others in the series include the Broadway Burger due for release in the middle of February and the Beverly Hills Burger due for release at the start of March.

Japanese Song of the Week MAMORE!!! by IDOLING!!!

This week’s Japanese Song of the Week is MAMORE!!! by IDOLING!!!, which has debuted at number 2 on the Japanese J-Pop Oricon charts.

IDOLING!!! (アイドリング) is a Japanese female idol group created by Fuji TV. The concept of the group was to watch the girls grow as idols and experience various things. They have a weekly variety show on TV and release albums, singles, DVD specials and perform live. They debuted in 2006, and have gone through many generation changes with the 5th generation of the group due in February 2012. This is the groups 17th single.

This song is in the style of that other famous idol group AKB48 and is very upbeat.

Watch the music video for the single MAMORE!!! by IDOLING!!!

IDOLING!!! Official Fuji TV Website

Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival 2012

The Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival is on at the Docklands on Saturday, February 11th from 4-8pm. Summer Festivals are popular annual events throughout Japan and now you have the chance to experience one here in Melbourne.

Admission to the festival is free and will showcase a number of performances including Dances, Taiko Drumming, Shamisen and Sumo. The festival will be packed with a wide range of stalls with traditional Japanese games, activities and food including Sushi, Okonomiyaki, Japanese Bento and Japanese Beer.

Location:
Waterfront City Piazza Docklands
Melway: 2E D4

The program for the festival

4:00 pm Stalls Open
4:10 pm Taiko Drumming (Wadaiko Rindo)
4:20 pm Opening Address
4:30 pm Dance Performance (The Japanese School of Melbourne)
4:40 pm Bon Odori (Summer Dance)
5:20 pm Shamisen Performance (Tadano Group)
5:30 pm Dance Performance (Murasaki no Kai)
5:40 pm Sumo Wrestling
6:00 pm Bon Odori 2
6:45 pm Taiko Drumming (Wadaiko Rindo)
7:05 pm Raffle Draw (Two Return Tickets to Japan)
8:00 pm Festival Closing Address

More information and details available at www.fest.jcci-jsm.org.au

Japan Australia on Facebook

Japan Australia is now on Facebook. It has been a while in the making, but you can now follow me on Facebook by following this link http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Australia/314387065264301

I hope to see you all there and thank you for the continued support of Japan Australia.

Japan Rail Kanto Area Pass

The Japan Rail Pass is great if you are a visitor to Japan and plan to do a lot of travelling, but what if you already live in Japan. Then the Japan Rail Kanto Area Pass is for you. The Japan Rail Kanto Area Pass is new for non-Japanese passport holders. It allows for unlimited travel on JR trains (including shinkansen and limited express trains) and selected non-JR trains in the Kanto Region on three consecutive days.

The pass allows you to travel in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto region including popular tourist destinations such as Mount Fuji, Hakone, Izu, and Karuizawa.

The pass went on sale from December 1st 2011 and can be used from January 2012.

The Japan Rail Kanto Area Pass costs 8000 yen for Adults and 4000 yen for Children (6-12 years).

Visit the link for more details
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/kantoareapass/index.html

Shogayaki (Pork with Ginger Soy Sauce)

image from cozymax

This Month’s Easy to Cook Japanese Recipe is Shogayaki, which is a quick and easy dish to make at home. This recipe uses the Teriyaki sauce shown in last month’s recipe to flavour the sliced pork, which is then stir-fried.


Shogayaki is commonly served hot with rice and shredded cabbage.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup teriyaki sauce (See Teriyaki Sauce Recipe)
• 200g sliced lean pork
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger juice
• vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ½ brown onion
• 2 cabbage leaves, sliced

Method

1. Prepare teriyaki sauce.
2. Marinate pork in teriyaki sauce and ginger juice for 30 minutes.
3. Pour a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and stir-fry onion and pork for 5 minutes or until cooked.
4. Add sauce and cook for another minute.
5. Serve with sliced cabbage on the side.

Easy To Follow Steps To Create Over 108 Top Japanese Recipes!