Anna Matsushita

Taste of forbidden drink Long time ago when I was living in the UK, I realized that cider (hard cider, or cidre) was available at pubs. However, when I go to the pubs with my English friends, they always tried to stop me drinking cider, saying “It’s not for young people” “Japanese won’t like it” “The Japanese people are weak on alcohol. Cider is too strong for the Japanese”. Those were their opinion, but I was baffled with their strong rejections. These English friends called themselves connoisseur of Japan, as all of them have lived in Japan for a bout year. They all rejected cider that it dose not match Japanese’ taste.  Looking back now, they probably experienced something uncomfortable when suggesting cider to the Japanese people. Possibly they did not want to let me down.  After long years passed from the incident, I finally found a chance to try British cider. A pub in Tokyo was displaying their drink menu on their website, and there were eight choices of cider. Recallin...

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...