Happy New Year ~ 明けましておめでとうございます｡

Letter from the Editor

2010 Tora (Tiger) Kitty - year of the tiger

Hi AlmostJapanese.com readers,

Happy New Year! I hope you are off to a great start in 2010, and if you’re in Japan, I hope you were able to participate in the Ōmisoka (大晦日- new year’s eve) and Hatsumōde (初詣, hatsumōde -first shrine visit of the New Year in Japan) rituals and celebrations. First off, I’m so sorry I haven’t updated the site for over a month now. There’s no legit excuse for leaving my readers out in the dark without notice. Last night before bed, I received a very nice comment from a reader on a Japanese Conbini photo article I posted back in November, reminding me there are readers out there who look forward to visiting my site:

Hey Lisa,
Japanese combinis rock, I am living in Japan now and they are gold. Even the 7/11s here are way better than the ones in the states. However, that oden always looks highly questionable, so I have never indulged. But a couple tuna or salmon onigiri always hit the spot. Anyway, rockin site Lisa…Always enjoyable and helps me kill time at work! - Daniel

Thanks for the shout out Daniel, I’m glad I can keep you entertained at work and your comment has made me want to start blogging and tweeting again!

Over the next three months, the city I live in, Vancouver, Canada, is going to get extremely busy hosting the 2010 Olympic Games - so don’t be surprised if you see a lot of Olympic content from me. It’s an exciting time for many Japanese athletes too, and there’s no doubt, the picture-snapping Japanese visitors will be buzzin’ around town trying capture a shot of Mao Asada - their figure skating princess. After months of troubling results, Mao-chan (as the Japanese call her) won the Japan women’s national figure skating championships in last month to secure a place on the Vancouver Olympic team. Congratulations Mao-chan!

Thanks for your readership everyone. I am Looking forward to getting back in touch with you all!

Cheers and Kanpai to 2010,
Lisa Nakamura (tweet me @almostjapanese)

Happy New Year! The Vancouver Olympic Games are right around the corner! I wonder how many medals Japan will win??

While you’re here, check out this really entertaining clip of the some of the odd New Year’s celebrators in Shibuya - skin tight bodysuits and tiger masks….that’s all I’ll say. (*Video taken from Japanprobe.com