Puccho

Puccho (ぷっちょ) is a Japanese candy made by the Japanese company UHA Mikakuto. Puccho is one of my favourite Japanese candy due to its unique texture and chewy nature. There are several types of Puccho which include Juushi, Shuwa, and World. There are many different flavours of Puccho including strawberry, cola, grape, orange, lemon, yoghurt, cream soda, blueberry, cherry, peach, mango, melon soda and pineapple. There are also flavours that are unique to certain regions in Japan and these usually make great souvenirs.

Reasons to Visit Japan

Japan is a must see destination for the traveler that is rich in unique traditional culture and historical ambience. The following are some of my favourite reasons for visiting Japan.



Natural Beauty

 Japan is made up mostly of mountains and is surrounded by the sea. This spectacular landscape offers a bevy of dramatic views overlooking lush mountains, valleys, seascapes, waterfalls, autumn foliage and white powder snow just to mention a few.

Cherry Blossoms

Cultural Heritage

Japan is a country where the past meets the future. Japan has a traditional culture that stretches back millennia, and is a country of contrasts with beautiful temples and gardens along with ultra modern and high tech cities.

Kinkaku-ji Kyoto

Culinary Excellence

Japanese cuisine is renowned for its emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients. Japanese cuisine is a kaleidoscope of diversity ranging from well known sushi, tempura and ramen noodles to the full course dinners called kaiseki. Travelling within Japan will lead you to discover the local specialities of each region.

Kaiseki meal

Cool Japan

Japan is the land of high tech x culture x art, the birth place of exciting unique technologies, street fashion and sub-cultures rich in vitality. Japan is home to anime, manga and video games. Japan has a fascinating harmony between the old and the new.

Facial recognition vending machines

Adventure

Experience some of the finest powder snow and ski resorts in the world in Hokkaido, Nagano and Niigata. Summer is the time for rafting, canoeing and trekking in the Japan Alps, or just dancing with the locals at festivals around Japan.

Skiing in Hokkaido

These are just a few of things that keep me coming back to Japan for more.

There are many more reasons out there for visiting Japan, so why don’t you tell us yours.

This is my Submission for the September 2011 Japan Blog Matsuri

Song of the Week MIN MIN MIN by SDN48

This week’s Song of the Week is MIN MIN MIN by SDN48 which has debuted at number 3 on the Japanese Jpop Oricon chart.

SDN48 which is short for Saturday Night 48 is a Japanese idol girl group created and produced by Yasushi Akimoto. SDN48 was created based on an “adult idol” concept and includes former AKB48 member Koyo Noro as captain. SDN48 made their major label debut in November 2010 and MIN MIN MIN is their 3rd single.

Rikugien Garden Tokyo

Rikugien Garden (六義園) is one of Tokyo’s most beautiful and a rare place in Tokyo where you can escape one of the loudest cities in the world. By some measurements, Tokyo is the largest urban area on Earth but in the middle of it is a garden modelled on poetic principles – the words and images of 17th century haiku master, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. Inside the garden, a Zen calm prevails in the shadow of neon signs and skyscrapers.

Fran Japanese Biscuit Stick

Fran is Meiji’s version of the popular Japanese biscuit stick Pocky by Glico. You can read about Pocky here Most people know about Pocky and it has fans all over the world but few people know about the equally delicious Fran. Fran and Pocky are very similar but in many areas I probably prefer Fran over Pocky as I will explain below.

This is the Original Chocolate flavor Fran. It is a chocolate biscuit stick covered in a smooth chocolate mousse. As you can see from the images the chocolate coating is a lot thicker than the regular Pocky and the biscuit stick is much thicker than the original Pocky. The taste of Fran is a lot smoother and richer. I prefer the original chocolate Fran to the regular Pocky due to this and it is more suited to the adult palate than the regular Pocky.

Song of the Week Everybody Go by Kis-My-Ft2

This week’s number one single on the Japanese Jpop Oricon charts is Everybody Go by Kis-My-Ft2.

Kis-My-Ft2 is a Japanese boy band formally by Johnny & Associates (Johnny's). The group officially announced their CD debut on February 12, 2011, but this was postponed due to the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.

This is Kis-My-Ft2’s debut single and is also the theme song to Ikemen desu ne (You’re Beautiful).

Air Conditioned Clothing

http://www.inhabitat.com

Japan’s hot and humid summers have led to many great ideas and inventions to try and stay cool and beat the summer heat. The latest is from Japanese entrepreneur Hiroshi Ichigaya, and is air conditioned clothing. Ichigaya is selling jackets, shirts and pants fitted with battery-powered “personal cooling systems”. Small fans circulate so much air over the wearer’s body that a 31C room feels comfortable, according to America’s ABC News, which has tested the clothing. According to ABC News, Ichigaya is selling to 1000 companies and even getting requests from the Prime Minister’s office for half a million jackets.