Anna Matsushita

Many years ago, during my stay in the UK, I was aware that pubs offered cidre, known as "cider" in English. However, for some reason, my British acquaintances strongly discouraged me from ordering apple cider. They claimed it was not something young people should drink, that it wouldn't suit Japanese taste buds, and that Japanese people were not accustomed to strong alcohol, which they believed apple cider to be. Their opinions, particularly the insistence that "it doesn't suit Japanese palates," left me puzzled. Despite their claimed familiarity with Japan, it seemed they were determined to prevent me from trying apple cider. Looking back, I suspect they may have had a negative experience recommending it to a Japanese person in the past, perhaps to avoid disappointing me. After several decades, I finally had the opportunity to savor British-made apple cider. A Tokyo-based restaurant had a menu featuring about eight types of apple cider. Recalling my past en

 On a Spring long time ago, I stayed in Ireland for a month with a group of my friends. We travelled around Ireland, and stayed in Dublin for about a week. As we had a plenty of time, some of us went to Inishmore on the west coast.   The Aran islands are the group of three islands off the west coast of Ireland, including Inishmore, Inisheer, and Inishmaan. They may be popular place for those who knit as the islands of Aran Jumpers, with iconic cable patterns.   We took a long distant coach from Dublin to Galway, a gateway to Aran Island where the ferry to the islands departs. Galway is known as a birthplace of cladder ring, one of the popular souvenir of Ireland. The design of the ring is a combination of crown-topped heart held by two hands. This design may be well-known for Irish accessories. The heart represents love, the crown represents faith, and the hands represents friendship. I heard that the rings are used as an engage ring. We saw this impressive cladder pattern on o

The Japanese government announced that Japan will reopen to tourist from abroad from the beginning of June, allowing 20000 people per day.   This is good news for those who wish to visit and enjoy Japan for the first time in two years. Also, this is a big shift for those in travel industry in Japan. They can finally welcome visitors from abroad – some cities and towns have been relied upon visitors from abroad for years. They have been waiting for this moment for long time – two years are definitely long for some businesses such as restaurants, tourist spots and gift shops.   However, I had a big question: the Japanese government announced border reopening just two months before the scheduled date. And they only allow group tours with guides who control the itinerary and sanitation. I wondered - are the two months long enough to sell group tours?   I believe most of travel companies start selling group tours at least 6 month ahead of the departure dates. Two months are ju

  The third COVID state of emergency was lifted in the Kanto region of Japan at the end of March 2021. People gradually started to go out more often. On the surface level the life seemed to be returning to normal – except that people were wearing face masks even those without cedar pollen fever – allergy similar to hay fever. On a weekend, I visited Yokohama. Yokohama is located about 30 minutes from Tokyo by train. It is known as one of the oldest port towns which started trade with western countries, such as France, Britain and America about 200 years ago. It is pretty big city with many areas to visit, such as the three towers of King, Queen and Jack, Hikawa-Maru ocean liner, Minato-mirai area, China town, Yokohama English Rose garden and many more. The Yokohama station is one of the spots where you can see some iconic figures which represent Yokohama’s history. Once you are out of central ticket gates of JR or other private railways, you might notice very small trails of the histor

One afternoon in February, I met one of my friend in Yokohama for a lunch. It was just the day after I turned down a job offer from an organization in Tokyo. I initially informed my friend a good new of being offered a position. However, my instinct told me not to take that offer, as the people I met at the interview seemed so unhappy, frightened, hollow and lethargic. I know that I should take any chance, but meeting these people simply put me off and I wasn’t excited to receive the job offer at all. I met my friend at a restaurant and informed my decision. He has been helping me through the past months, introducing to various job agents and giving me plenty of advice when changing job. He is a cheery chap who is quite talented manager in banking and insurance field with lots of experience. I wanted to meet him, to get better influence from a successful person. Furthermore, I wanted to catch up with him as we haven’t met about 5 years or so. He suggested to meet at a restaurant which