Japan Unboxed

What is Mirin? Once you know this secret ingredient in Japanese cuisine, you won’t cook without it. Please visit our website to explore more insight on Japan at www.japanunboxed.com !

Original article for this quote: https://bizhint.jp/report/841348

One of the characteristics of Japan is that people’s life expectancy is Long. However, the healthy life expectancy is only about 70 years. In this age of 100 years of life, more people should be walking until much after 70. Mr. Okabe Daichi, is a medical doctor who owns a startup company in Tokyo and believes just seeing patients in the medical office is not the only way a doctor should be doing b...

Have you ever seen pictures of delicious looking skewered fruit sitting on top of the plastic cup on Instagram? The chances are it is by one woman who works at a local supermarket in Aichi pref. Let’s see if her story as a grocer can unbox Japan. 爆盛り、映え、お値打ち！　超ローカルスーパー「やまひこ」惣菜の秘密https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/42097 https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/4...

Everyone who buys bento at a convenience store in Japan makes it sure that they have their bento microwaved before they leave the store. But Mr. Kasaoka Seiichi, Professor, at Bunkyo University in Tokyo says otherwise. Why does he think bento should be eaten cold? Let’s see if his theory for dieting can unbox Japan. ｢白米は冷まして食べる｣炭水化物を最高のダイエット食材に変えるシンプルな方法 お弁当...

In English, there is a saying such as “Like father, Like Son” but there are daughters who believe that phrase is for themselves. Ms. Mori Asana must be feeling the same way as she took up responsibility with her father who owns a fish wholesale store in Nagoya city, Aichi Prefecture. Her dream since she was little was to run the shop with her father. Let’s see if her success story of running a fis...

There is a conception widely believed outside Japan that Japan is the worst place for foreigners to work because of lack of diversity. There is a company in Iruma City, Saitama that has hired 10% of employees who are foreigners in the last 15 years.  Kamoshita Yusuke, a president of Koganei Seiki Seisakusho, says that the company just hires people they think are excellent, and as a result, th...

One of the key concepts of communication when you work at Japanese company is called “HOU REN SOU”.  HO is short for HOKOKU is to report, REN is short for RENRAKU is to let others know, SOU is short for SOUDAN is to consult. None of these can be missed when you work as a team member in order to keep the performance. Mr. Kuranuki Yoshito, CEO of Sonic Garden is considered as a pioneer of remote wor...

Olive oil started to be recognized by Japanese celebrities around 2000. There is one Japanese actor and cook who is known as an olive oil expert who loves using olive oil in his recipes. His name is Hayami Mokomichi. At first, his cooking style was perceived as strange but as he continued posting his cooking videos on YouTube, his passion for olive oil became normal. Let’s see if a recent intervie...

After over a year of the Corona pandemic, there are new trends that are sold more than conventional food. One is Onigiri, a rice ball and another is loaf of bread. Both specialty kinds. Let’s find out how these items became hot and see if that can unbox Japan. https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2105/12/news035.html https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/c27f15369d0be283717c74fded5ba2f77baad73c...

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ef94cf5a17862e314f940aaa2ed24f7a85191fea?page=3 Apr. 18 (Sun) Japanese sweet potatoes have been a popular snack for children especially in the winter time. Recently, that snack is in the spotlight as a superfood because of its nutrition not only in Japan but also in other parts of the world. Let’s see if this once ordinary food turned star of the plant can unbox J...

In Japan, there is an exam that is the most difficult with a passing rate of less than 1% every year.  It is the 8th-dan examination, the highest rank in Kendo, the swordsmanship. Every year only a handful of swordsmen pass this exam. NabeyamaTakahiro who holds this 8th-dan rank, is an associate professor at Tsukuba University and  has been overwhelmingly strong since he was young. In a...

One of the world’s favorite Japanese foods is instant noodle. It is even eaten in the International Space Station. Nissin Foods which is the legend of the industry has been emphasizing the digitalization of the company.  Mr. Kitara Shigeo who was CIO of Nissin Foods recently left the company and shared his success and view of digitalization at Japanese companies. Let’s see if an interview wit...

Right now, Japan is on a longer holiday which is called Golden Week. Like last year,  this year’s golden week will be another long one due to Covid-19, especially in urban areas. The weather is good during the holidays, many families may do some spring cleanups. Let’s see if learning how to tidy up Japanese way can unbox Japan. https://diamond.jp/articles/-/269635?page=2 Hashtag #sake #Sushi...

There are night schools in Japan that started in 1947 after World War II for the people who could not afford to attend regular school for financial reasons when they were young. Now some of those schools serve to teach the immigrants Japanese language after work. Mr. Sekimoto Yasutaka worked as a teacher at such a night school  for the last 36 years. The number of students he taught counts ov...

In the age of diversification, it is not easy to predict any kind of trend. That applies to the manga world as well. After "Daymon Slayer", every one must be wondering what’s next. It seems who set the trend is actually elementary school students who are sensitive to new things and cannot be underestimated when it comes to finding new hits. There is one editor who has a child in the fourth grade w...

There is a term called “Work Wear’ in Japanese. It is meant for a line of clothing that is comfortable and stretches to fit for any body movements. People wear those clothes for outside work, hobbies and so on. The category was mainly used for construction workers in the past but nowadays it is very popular especially among young people. Let’s see if the person who started this trend can unbox Jap...

https://bizgate.nikkei.co.jp/article/DGXMZO7076252007042021000000?page=2 Sushi became more popular in Japan after 1978 once the copyright of sushi belt conveyors expired and cheaper restaurants emerged. Kura Zushi is one of the survivors among the fierce competition, providing entertaining experience to families to individuals while many restaurants have been hit hard in this COVID19 pandemic. Peo...

https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2104/16/news009.html The traditional way that majority of Japanese companies hire employees is a membership based system where employees are allocated to jobs accordingly and almost guaranteed lifetime employment called 終身雇用. However, more companies are rethinking and showing the interest of giving it up after realizing the demand for system changes...

https://www.itmedia.co.jp/business/articles/2104/07/news010.html  Wacoal, a major Japanese underwear company, is offering a service that uses a 3D body scanner. It only takes about 5 second to measure the shape of the body. This is a service called "3D smart & try" and provides remote counseling for women to choose underwear through avatars based on the data, is very popular and always booked. Let...

The president of TOYOTA Motors, Toyoda Akio pledged his support for global economy a year ago. Things are a bit better but not entirely. Let’s see if his announcement can unbox Japan. Hashtag #sake #Sushi #Japan #Japanese #JapanUnboxed #nihongo #にほんご #learnJapanese #studyJapanese #madeinjapan #DiscoverJapan #Tokyo #Kyoto #日本語能力試験 #JLPT #日本語勉強 #kanji #AdvancedJapanese #Asahishimbun...

2021/03/24 https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/409541 There are quite a few Japanese companies that are very global but under the radar. Daikin Kogyo is one of them. They have more than 100 production bases around the world and operate in more than 150 countries and regions. One of their characteristics is that it has well balanced earnings not only in Japan, but Europe, North America, China, and As...

https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/40608/4/1/1 2021/03/30 There are a certain number of school age children in Japan who haven’t attended schools for prolonged time and it has been a social problem. The reasons are chronically ill such as depression or mentally disabled from being bullied but some are unaware of reasons why they cannot go to school. The number of those children hit bottom in...

A TV anime and movie “The Demon  Slayer” based on the manga, Japanese comic, has now become a social phenomenon worldwide. Set in the Taisho era in the 1900s, the story is about the adventures of かまどたんじろう, whose sister was killed by demons and trying to bring her back into a human. With the support of his friends, たんじろう trains his swordsmanship and physical skills to defeat the f...

In recent years, religions seem to be facing an issue to become a thing of the past globally. On the other hand, there is a huge demand for mindfulness in the stressful society as well. There is one team in Kyoto city that has announced that they have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) that can learn Buddhist scriptures and might be able to solve people's problems. 　 The aim is to make the...