Best Japanese snacks and treats to stay cool this summer

In Japan right now, summer vacation is in full swing! Unlike in the United States, Japanese summer vacation begins around July 18th and lasts till the end of August – meaning the time to enjoy summer is short! However, the brutally humid summer weather actually starts sometime in June, or as early as May. The other extreme bummer is that Japanese public schools typically do not have AC – or at least don't use it – leading to some students being rushed to the hospital after fainting in the sweltering heat. Sad, but true – at least three students went down during the pre-summer vacation assembly at one of my junior highs. On the other hand, if you're a "salaryman", you get to battle monstrous crowds during morning rush hour on the trains, meaning being pressed up against other hot and sweaty bodies, the stench of other people's BO filling your nostrils, and sweating to death in a full piece suit in case someone from another company which does business with yours might see you out of uniform on your way to work.

Either way you slice it, summer is basically a totally gross three months in Japan.

So, how do the Japanese beat the heat? Some people make a trip up to northern Hokkaido (I always made sure to high tail it out of the country after my first year!), hitting up the local community pool which is bound to be crowded, or going down to the beach. But one of their favorite ways to stay cool is just like in America – eating food!

Garigari-kun

Soda flavored Garigari-kun

One of Japan's favorite ice creams and most beloved snack mascot is Garigari-kun, frozen popsicles. It's named for the crunchy (gari gari) sound you make when crushing bits of ice with your teeth. Inside the popsicle are flavored ice bits that are enjoyable to crunch down on! Garigari-kun is available at convenience stores and supermarkets and sold very cheaply (less than a dollar). Soda is the standard flavor, but the company has gotten creative with other flavors in the past – corn pottage or Neapolitan Spaghetti, anyone?!

How to Read Omikuji

A typical omikuji, or fortune slip, in Japan.

A popular thing to do when visiting a shrine or temple in Japan is to draw an “omikuji”, or fortune slip. These are not your average fortune printed at some factory sitting inside your fortune cookie (whose origins can be traced back to tsujiura senbei (辻占煎餅) in Kyoto, Japan).

Tsujiura senbei, the world's first fortune cookie

Omikuji are highly detailed fortunes with full explanations and analysis of love, health, business, and so forth, more akin to your daily horoscope. That being said, not all fortunes are good luck! Be prepared for some bad news, the kind predicting you’ll be having the worst year of your life. After all, omikuji aren’t rolled inside sweet vanilla-flavored cookies.

Once you’ve worked up the nerve to take on “your fate”, follow these steps for reading your omikuji.

Last Update of Izanau Articles

Today I have some unfortunate news to share: the website that I have been writing for as a freelancer since April 2016, www.izanau.com, has been suspended. Luckily the site will still be up, just not receiving any updates from now on, so you can still check out all of my articles (I've Been Writing Up a Storm! Check Out my Articles!, Even More Articles, and Special Announcement on Update of Freelance Articles). I've listed my final six articles below! It was fun while it lasted, and it was basically my dream job combining my love of writing with Japan. The plus side is there will be a bunch of new blogs coming soon that didn't make it all the way to publication with izanau! Thanks for reading!

Big in Japan: Who and What is Moomin?

Moomin, a hippopotamus-like character created by Finnish author Tove Jansson, has been wildly popular throughout the years in Japan. Lake Miyazawa will be home to the first Moomin theme park outside of Finland and is set to open in 2017.

Japanese Style Pastas Blend East with West

East meets West, spaghetti style!

Pasta is good. There’s no question about that – a perfect concoction of energy giving carbs that you can dress up any way you please and is versatile with nearly any flavor combination (Buddy the Elf’s breakfast spaghetti, anyone?). While the Japanese are known to be one of the world’s biggest rice lovers, when they’re not chowing down on the white stuff they’ll usually be tucking into a giant bowl of noodles, the second most popular carb option. The Japanese are experts with noodles, not just the plain spaghetti stuff – thick, soft udon, thin and chewy ramen, fine somen, and firm soba. When it comes to plain old spaghetti, you’ll find Japan has a lot to offer besides standard marinara or alfredo sauce.

At Japanese pasta restaurants the menu reflects a mix of Western and Asian flavors unique to the country.

Exploring Disney Sea Part 2: Port Discovery, Mysterious Island, and Mermaid Lagoon

Aquatopia in Port Discovery at Disney Sea.

Port Discovery

Next on our list comes Port Discovery! Attractions include Aquatopia, DisneySea Electric Railway, and Nemo and Friends SeaRider (formerly Storm Rider).

Aquatopia is kind of like Autopia at Disneyland in California, only you don't get to direct the motion of the "cars". These fun aqua-vehicles seat two and will spin you around the attraction up close to water jets, a waterfall, and even a whirlpool!

Aquatopia will spin you round!

Japanese "Talento"

Become a famous talento today!

When watching Japanese TV or living in Japan, you’re bound to encounter the word “talento” at some point, the foreign loanword from “talent.” You’ve probably seen an advertisement on TV, on the train, or in a magazine for talent agencies on the lookout for fresh new faces to inject into the entertainment industry. So, do these people actually have any “talent”?

What are “talento”?

Degawa Tetsurou

Different from regular actors or musicians, “talento” are celebrities who make regular appearances on mass media, most notably television. They are prized for their charismatic talents more than actual talent – in television, personality is everything, to the point which many people on TV are assuming a different persona, playing a character they think people will like. It’s basically the term for “famous for being famous” – say, any member of the Kardashian family.

Exploring Disney Sea Part 1: Mediterranean Harbor and American Waterfront

The Second Happiest Place on Earth, Disney Sea!

So I've shared all my insider secrets on Tokyo Disneyland, but what about the adjacent park, Disney Sea?

I've been there three times, and every single time it has been CROWDED. I once waited in line 20 minutes just to buy a churro! For this reason, I personally prefer Disneyland because it's definitely less crowded, and there aren't as many fun rides at Sea. However, it's a one-of-a-kind park completely unique to Japan! Thus I definitely recommend going once for the experience. It's the more popular park particularly among adults here – Disneyland is more catered to kids, while Sea has a more adult atmosphere.

Entrance area

The most important thing to remember about visiting Disney Sea is to avoid frustration with crowds by simply prioritizing exploration over rides. Fastpasses will be your best friend here, but nab 'em quick because they sell out fast, especially on weekends or holidays (which you must avoid like the plague! Never ever go on a holiday, because that's exactly when everyone else will be there, too. Tip #1: sometime in the middle of January through February will have less crowds, but college students are out of school by late February, so you'll have them to contend with after that. And please – avoid spring break, late March-early April).

First Novella Available on Amazon

While on my quest to become a published author, I've been having some difficulty getting an agent. I've tried sending in manuscripts and queries to publishing houses that accept without an agent, but I haven't had any luck there. In the meantime, what am I to do with my fourteen novels?!

My first novella available as an e-book!

I thought I'd take a step and try self-publishing on Amazon. It's my first novella which I wrote in about a month a few summers ago, called "Blood Magic" (which also happens to be the title of another book featured on Amazon, don't get them confused, mine is the one whose cover page obviously looks done by an amateur haha). Here's the description of the story:

After the death of their mother, a powerful witch, Pontias is tasked with raising his three daughters, hot-tempered Semper, well-mannered Ambriose, and practical Carnelia. In an effort to ensure their success, he has his wife’s magic bestowed upon his daughters, who grow up to each be powerful and successful: a magician, a love expert, and a knowledge guru. Yet they are unaware of a family tie lurking in the background plotting to take back their rightful claim to the magic. The three sisters suddenly find themselves stuck together on a quest to put back their lives while trying to survive each other. While the enemy waits for the chance to strike they must learn the value of family as they discover a family secret and the bonds that tie them together.

"Blood Magic" is available as an e-book for $0.99. I would be honored if you took the time to read it, and maybe even write a quick review! You can find it here, and check out my author page here.

Thanks for reading!

Special Announcement on Update of Freelance Articles

I'd like to take this time to make an announcement: as of today, I've published 51 articles on izanau.com since starting in April 2016! That makes an average of just under 4 articles a month! And I did all this while working full time. I really love writing! If you haven't had the chance to read some of my newer articles, click on the links below!

Ariana Grande's Love Affair with Japan

Ariana Grande loves Japan. Ariana is even learning to write Japanese hiragana, and speak Japanese. Her fan base in Japan is so big, that she even released Japanese versions of the "Dangerous Woman" and "Focus" music videos.

Inside the Studio Ghibli Museum Part 3

After reading up on all the awesome exhibits and attractions in Part 1 and Part 2 at the Studio Ghibli Museum, you're bound to have worked up a tremendous appetite! Luckily there's plenty of mouth-watering food available in the museum cafe!

Straw Hat Cafe

The Straw Hat Cafe

A trip to the Studio Museum should not end without dining at the Straw Hat cafe. You can get snacks, drinks, desserts, and both cold and hot meals. The menu is all sourced from organic farms and very healthy! Favorites include the katsu curry, fried pork cutlet sandwich and strawberry short cake.

Inside the Studio Ghibli Museum Part 2

Now that you've caught up on Part 1, let's find out about those short films shown exclusively at the Studio Ghibli Museum and the rooftop garden!

Short Films

There are a total of 9 short original Ghibli films shown exclusively at the museum, of which I have seen three (fell a little short of the goal! Unfortunately I can’t give you my opinion on all of them). Again, the films are all shown in Japanese, with two showings a day featuring Japanese subtitles, but many of the films have very little dialogue or even none at all. Even without understanding Japanese, you’ll enjoy the film anyway!

Takara-sagashi – “Treasure Hunting”

A little boy named Yuji and a rabbit named Gikku compete to determine who gets to be the owner of a stick they both found by race, jump rope, and sumo wrestling. However they are always equally matched! Thus they decide to play a final game of treasure hunting. It's based on the picture book by Rieko Nakagawa.

Inside the Studio Ghibli Museum Part 1

The Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo

One of my favorite places I've visited in Japan is the Studio Ghibli Museum, located in Mitaka, Tokyo. Case in point, I've been there three times in three years! In case you've got any doubts as to why this place would be worth visiting more than once, check out my article on izanau, including tips on how to snag tickets, costs, and transportation. The hard part is simply getting the tickets; other than that admission costs only 1000 yen (around 10 bucks!) so it's very affordable! What is not, sadly, is the gift shop, depending on your level of Ghibli fandom.

Everything about the museum is detailed and cute, even the special bus that goes straight to the museum from Mitaka station (sadly it's not a giant fluffy cat with twelve legs, but still good).

The Ghibli bus! Not an actual cat bus as we were all hoping.

It has all the cute characters from the opening scenes of My Neighbor Totoro!

Or you can walk about fifteen minutes from Mitaka station. Just follow the signs!

Ghibli Museum this way!

Visiting the Kit Kat Chocolatory, and Trying Butter Kit Kats!

If you've read any of my blogs or articles, you'll know all about how much I love Japanese Kit Kats! Unlike their American counterparts, they come in awesome flavors like beni'imo (purple sweet potato), hazelnut, pumpkin, and even wasabi and Japanese sake. You can even collect specialty flavors and packaging available exclusively in certain regions of Japan, like momiji manju in Hiroshima or azuki toast in Nagoya (both are specialty sweets in these regions). Kit Kats are highly popular during the test-taking time of the year in February and March because they sound like "kitto katsu" (you'll surely win) in Japanese. Did you know Kit Kats are so popular in Japan they even inspired their own specialty chocolate shop?! It's called the Kit Kat Chocolatory, and naturally it was a must-see for me.

The Kit Kat Chocolatory in Tokyo