Frankston Japanese Festival

The Frankston Japanese Festival is on Saturday, 25 February on Kananook Creek Boulevard from 11am – 5pm.


The festival will mark the 30th anniversary of Frankston’s sister city link with Susono. Susuno is located 175km south-west of Tokyo in Shizuoka Prefecture.


The highlights of the festival will include:

Japanese Song of the Week Chotto Matte Kudasai! by S/mileage

This week’s Japanese Song of the Week is Chotto Matte Kudasai! by S/mileage, which has debuted at number 6 on the Japanese J-Pop Oricon charts.

S/mileage (スマイレージ,) is a Japanese girl group under the Hello! Project umbrella. The group made their major label debut In 2010, and won the Japan Record Award for Best New Artist in 2010.

This song is the group's 9th single and is very cute, upbeat and happy.

Valentine’s Day in Japan

Valentine’s Day in Japan is very different from anywhere else in the world. Valentine’s Day is on February 14th but it is all about the chocolates in Japan. 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 on March 14th.

Types of chocolate giving on Valentine’s Day

Japanese Song of the Week Kata Omoi Finally by SKE48

This week's Japanese Song of the Week is Kata Omoi Finally by SKE48, which has debuted at number 1 on the Japanese J-Pop Oricon charts. SKE48 are an all-female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto. They debuted in October 2008 and perform in the newly built studio at Sunshine Sakae in Nagoya every Saturday. This is the groups 7th single. The song is very upbeat and happy and this is a live version of the song.

Setsubun

Image by siren7

Today, February 3rd is Setsubun no hi (節分の日) which marks the start of the spring season risshun(立春) in Japan. The word Setsubun literally means a division of the seasons. Setsubun no hi is not an official national holiday, but it is celebrated in ways meant to drive away evil spirits and bad luck and bring in good luck.

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.

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.