White Day 2014

White Day is a special day held in Japan on March 14, exactly a month after Valentine’s Day. White Day is a time in Japan for the boys to return the favour of gifts received earlier from the girls on Valentine’s Day. Why is it called “White Day”? It is simple really, white is the colour of sugar, which is the main ingredient of candy traditionally given as a gift on White Day.

Popular traditional gifts on White Day include white chocolate, cookies, jewelry, white lingerie, and marshmallows. These days anything goes, so the gifts can be pretty much anything.

Hina Matsuri Japanese Doll’s Festival

March 3rd in Japan is a special day called Hina Matsuri (雛祭), a traditional Japanese festival also commonly known as Doll’s Festival or Girl’s Day. On this day, families with girls will display ornamental dolls in the hope of bringing their daughters a successful and happy life.

Platforms covered with a red carpet called hina-dan (雛壇) are used to display the set of ornamental dolls called hina-ningyō (雛人形). The dolls represent the Emperor, Empress and other court attendants in traditional court dress of the Heian period (794-1185) in Japan. The dolls are usually displayed on a five or seven tired stand with the Emperor and Empress at the top. The next step contains three court ladies (sannin-kanjo), followed by five musicians (gonin-bayashi), two ministers (udaijin and sadaijin), and three servants ending the bottom row in a five-tiered display.

McDonald’s Japan American Vintage 1980s Funky BBQ

McDonald’s Japan earlier this year released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series was the 1950s American Diner, followed by 1970s Soul Food. The last in the American Vintage series is the 1980s themed Funky BBQ. McDonald’s Japan has chosen a BBQ variety from the US with a special smoked flavour from birch and cloves, and made with a blend of 10 different spices and herbs. The 1980s Funky BBQ went on sale at McDonald’s restaurants across Japan on February 18th and will remain on the menu until early March.

Sakura Cherry Blossom Ice Cream in Japan

Häagen-Dazs have just released a Sakura Cherry Blossom flavoured ice cream to celebrate their 30th anniversary in Japan. It is really good with the ice cream containing powdered cherry blossom petals, and is topped with a sour cherry sauce. It is available at supermarkets and convenience stores in Japan from February 3. They have also released a rose flavoured ice cream as well, but we didn’t quite fancy tasting that one. The rose ice cream is a strawberry based ice cream with two kinds of roses included. It is topped with a pink plum sauce. This is the first time that Haagen Dazs has released a flower flavoured ice cream. We certainly hope the sakura one become part of their regular line-up.

The ice cream cost 198 yen (USD$2) at our local supermarket, or 284 yen (USD$2.84) at convenience stores for a 100 ml tub.

Sakura is synonymous with spring in Japan and when various sakura flavoured goods start hitting the stores you know that spring is just around the corner. I hope this great tasting ice cream is a sign of just that with the warmer weather on the way.

Sakura Cherry Blossom Ice Cream

Rose Ice Cream

Haagen Dazs 30th Anniversary in Japan Ice Cream

We picked up a 100ml tub at our local supermarket for 198 yen

Pretty in Pink

Love that Sour Cherry sauce on top

You can watch my video below on the Sakura Cherry Blossom Ice Cream

Haagen Dazs Japan Website

Valentine’s Day in Japan 2014

Valentine’s Day in Japan is very different from back home in Australia. The date is the same, February 14th, but in Japan it is all about the chocolates. The tradition in Japan is for the girls to give chocolates to the boys. It is totally up to the girls to show who they like by presenting them with chocolate. The favour is returned to the girls on a special day called White Day, which is celebrated a month later on March 14th. This tradition in Japan of the girls giving to the boys on Valentine's Day is said to have started back in the late 1950s, by a company called Mary Chocolate. They started an advertising campaign along the lines that Valentine's Day is the only day of the year a woman can profess her love through presenting chocolate. Well it has been a very successful campaign and this tradition is still going strong today.

Girls can express their love to that special boy in their life on Valentine’s Day, but it is not as simple as that. There are different types of chocolate giving on Valentine’s Day here in Japan. These include:

Giri-choco (義理チョコ) obligation chocolate given to male friends, work mates, family and bosses. Giri means ("obligation") in Japanese and choco, ("chocolate"). There is no romantic association with giri-choco and it is just chocolate that you have to give to people. These are usually ordinary, inexpensive store brought chocolate and can range in price from 100 yen to 500 yen.

Honmei-choco (本命チョコ) chocolates for that special one who you want to express your love to such as boyfriend, lover or husband. This type of chocolate is special, so it is usually handmade by the girls themselves or is a really expensive chocolate from a store, often presented together with a gift. You are very lucky if you can get honmei-choco on Valentine’s Day!

Tomo-choco (友チョコ) this is chocolate that girls give to friends and is usually inexpensive. This kind of chocolate has become more popular in Japan in recent years.

Jibun-choco (自分チョコ) chocolates that girls just buy for themselves. Sometimes it’s nice to treat yourself to something special.

Various Chocolates on display at a Department Store

Chocolate ranges from the Cheap to very Expensive

Chocolate is the most popular gift for Valentine’s Day in Japan. Other popular gifts include cookies and small cakes. The department stores and supermarkets will be fully stocked with all sorts of chocolate days and weeks before the actual day. There are usually long queues at the stores in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Mr Donuts and Krispy Kreme have several special donuts on sale just for Valentine’s Day, while Baskin Robbins called Thirty-one Ice Cream in Japan has some special Valentine’s Ice-Cream.

Mr Donuts has two kinds of their famous Pon de Ring Donuts for Valentine’s Day. They are the Pon de Marshmallow Chocolate, and Pon de Marshmallow Strawberry.

Pon de Marshmallow Chocolate

Pon de Marshmallow Strawberry

Mister Donut Japan

Krispy Kreme has released three limited edition Valentine’s Day flavors. They include The Roasted Almond and Chocolate Donut, Raspberry Jelly and Chocolate Donut, and Caramel and Chocolate Cream Donut. You can pick up a set of two of these donuts in a special Valentine's Day box with a slot for a message card for 600 yen (USD $6). The set is called the Rich Chocolate Gift.

Rick Chocolate Gift Set from Krispy Kreme Japan

Raspberry Jelly and Chocolate Donut

Caramel and Chocolate Cream Donut

Krispy Kreme Japan

Baskin Robbins has four new “flavors of love” including the feature flavor which is amaretto chocolate with pale pink hearts. The other flavors are “Love in Berry” made with raspberry and blueberry ice cream with raspberry chocolate hearts, “Lovestruck Cheescake” made with strawberry cheesecake ice cream with strawberry and cheesecake bits and a fudge ribbon, and “Love Potion 31” made with raspberry and white chocolate ice cream with a raspberry ribbon and chocolate hearts.

Baskin Robbins Flavors of Love Ice Cream 

Love Potion 31 & Lovestruck Cheesecake

Baskin Robbins Japan

Did you know there is also a thing called "Valentine’s Insurance” in Japan? A guy can take out an insurance policy if he feels like he might not receive any chocolates on Valentine’s Day. A box of chocolates will arrive in the mail and he can feel that little bit special on the day.

I hope you have a great Valentine's Day this year wherever you are in the world.

Skiing in Japan

Japan’s fantastic skiing and snowboarding conditions have long been a well-kept secret, but word is slowly getting out and more people are discovering this hidden gem. Japan has some of the best ski resorts and soft powder snow in the world. There are more than 600 ski resorts through-out the country with the ski season officially starting in December. The best months are considered to be January and February with the best conditions offered during this time. The three best areas for skiing in Japan are Nagano in the Japan Alps on the main island of Honshu, Hokkaido, the island furthest north in Japan with Siberian-blasted highlands, and Niigata also on the main island of Honshu on the Sea of Japan coast.

Nagano 

Nagano is only a short two hour bullet train ride from Tokyo, and offers some of the best resorts in Japan. It was home of the 1998 Winter Olympics and a fabulous place to ski or snowboard. Nagano’s winter season is December to early April. One of the highlights is Hakuba, with its snow laden peaks and valleys. Hakuba has deep winter snow falls and plenty of soft powder snow with seven different ski resorts. One of the best ski resorts in Hakuba is Happo-One with excellent mountain views and runs for beginner, intermediate and advanced skiers and snowboarders. Shiga Kogen is also highly recommended and hosted several events at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. It is in fact one of the largest ski resorts in the world. It offers 21 different areas with a variety of terrain to suit all styles and type of skiers and snowboarders.

Prices

Happo-One Ski Resort Day Lift Ticket 4600 yen ($46 USD)
Equipment Rental 2500 - 3000 yen ($25 - $30 USD)
Shiga Kogen Day Lift Ticket 4800 yen ($48 USD)

Hokkaido 

Hokkaido is about a 90 minute flight from Tokyo and was also a Winter Olympic venue in 1972. Hokkaido’s winter season is November to early April with some ski resorts still having snow until early May. Sapporo is the cosmopolitan main city on Hokkaido, but does not get a lot of snow until early December. The best places are ski resorts like Niseko, Furano, Rusutsu and Kiroro. Niseko is probably the best ski resort in Hokkaido and can be reached either by bus or a picturesque train journey through beautiful winter landscapes. Niseko is exactly what you would expect a Japanese ski village to be. It is a blend of traditional Japanese houses and environment with modern touches such as traffic lights, apartments and hotels. The skiing in Niseko is first class, featuring deep snow, long runs and soft powder snow. The Niseko ski area usually receives around 15 meters of snow every year. Day tickets are cheap, usually about half of what you would pay in Australia and with no long lift queues as there are 43 lifts. Niseko United is the name of a group of four connected resorts here that you can ski or snowboard on with a single all-mountain pass.

Prices

Niseko United One Day Pass 5900 yen ($59 USD)

Niigata 

Niigata located on the Sea of Japan coast in the Chubu region of Japan is just over 2 hours away from Tokyo. Niigata offers over 50 ski resorts and excellent skiing and snowboarding conditions. Most of the resorts are either located in the Myoko or Yuzawa area. One of the best is the Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa with 27 courses of varying skill level. It has been very popular now for many years due to is easy access from Tokyo (80 minutes by train) and long snow season. The ski season runs from November to May.

Prices 

Naeba Day Lift Ticket 4000 yen ($40 USD)
Equipment Rental 4300 yen ($43 USD)

General Prices 

Lift pass usually range in price from 4000 yen ($40 USD) to 5500 yen ($55 USD) a day. Ski gear and clothing can be hired at most resorts, and is very reasonably priced. Full equipment rental might cost you around 5000 yen per day ($50 USD).

If you have any recommendations of places, please leave them in the comments below.

Image Source

McDonald’s Japan American Vintage 1970s Soul Food

McDonald’s Japan recently released their new menu series called ‘American Vintage’. The first in the series was the 1950s American Diner, which went on sale across Japan on January 7th. The next to feature in the series is 1970s Soul Food with the Hot & Groovy Burgers. It features the Hot & Groovy Beef and Hot & Groovy Chicken. The burgers are topped with a special Hot & Groovy salsa sauce. The burgers went on sale at the end of January and will remain on the menu until mid-February.

Hot & Groovy Beef 

The Hot & Groovy Beef Burger features two beef patties, two types of cheese (cheddar & white cheddar), shredded lettuce, spicy salsa sauce, jalapeno sauce and buns topped with grinded corn. They were going for a Tex-Mex flavour when designing this burger.

Hot & Groovy Beef

Hot & Groovy Chicken 

The Hot & Groovy Chicken Burger features a crispy chicken patty, cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, spicy salsa sauce, jalapeno sauce and buns topped with grinded corn. This one is also meant to have a Tex-Mex flavour.

Hot & Groovy Chicken

The Taste Test 

Japan Australia headed to our local McDonald’s to check out the Hot & Groovy Beef. Unfortunately, we didn’t bump into the Groovy one Austin Powers, but did get our hands on the burger. The Hot & Groovy sauce is nice and spicy and is a good combination with the two beef patties and cheese. We really liked the two types of cheese which gave the burger a strong taste. The buns were soft and fluffy and a little more fancy than the regular McDonald’s buns. The only let down was the jalapeno sauce, which was kind of like a creamy wasabi mayo. It didn’t fit the theme or match the taste of this burger and left us with a funny after-taste. It should have been left out in our humble opinion.

There you have it! If you are in Japan and want to try something Hot & Groovy, give the Hot & Groovy Burgers a try.

Hot & Groovy Beef all boxed up

Hot & Groovy Beef opened up

Hot & Groovy Beef close up

McDonald’s Japan Website

1970s Hot & Groovy Burgers