All posts by Ted Tanaka

  • The cheapest bus option to and from Narita Airport is now 1,300 yen

    Taking a bus to Narita? Up until January 31, 2020,  ACCESS NARITA’s 1,000-yen bus service from Ginza to Narita was the cheapest in town. But after Access Narita merged with Tokyo Shuttle in February  2020, the service...

    • Posted July 20, 2023
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  • Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)

    Set in 1994 Brooklyn, Transformers:Rise of the Beasts, a standalone sequel to 2018 Action Sci-fi Bumblebee and prequel to 2007 Transformers, is coming to Japan theaters on August 4, 2023. The seventh installment in the Transformers live-action...

    • Posted July 4, 2023
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  • Is a pair of Xiaomi’s new Buds4 pro any good?

    Let’s talk about Xiaomi’s newly released flagship model Buds 4 Pro wireless earphones that retails at 26,800 yen. SOUND QUALITY The Hi-Res audio streaming uses Sony’s LDAC codec supported with up to 990 kbps, 96 kHz/24-bit so...

    • Posted March 10, 2023
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  • Tokyo Governor spearheads an initiative to make childcare services free for second-born kids

    By year 2050, around 35% of Japan’s population will be 65 years old and above. The poses a threat to Japan’s economic growth and stability. The continuously tumbling numbers of pregnancies and marriages in Japan have resulted...

    • Posted January 14, 2023
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  • How to make a delicious Japanese hamburger steak

    Lightly dust the surface of your burger patties with flour just before cooking. This technique helps to prevent the meat from being undercooked even on medium heat. Heat your lightly greased steak plates well  before adding the...

    • Posted January 10, 2023
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  • 2022 Best notebooks/tablets for distance learning and telework

    As children are back to school, and Japan still on its seventh Covid-19 wave, many kids, moms and dads will remain in full-time or hybrid virtual learning/working mode for the foreseeable future. During these challenging times, it...

    • Posted September 3, 2022
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  • Twitter to begin testing its “Edit” button

    Twitter said Thursday it has begun actively testing an edit button, after months of publicly discussing such a tweak. Edit Tweet testing will begin with internal employees, then be expanded out to the platform’s Twitter Blue subscription...

    • Posted September 2, 2022
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  • Universal Studios Japan to raise Day pass to 9800 yen

    USJ LLC, the operator of Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, will raise the maximum price of a one-day Studio Pass from the current 9,400 yen to 9,800 yen in October. The price hike comes ahead of the...

    • Posted August 17, 2022
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  • Quick family meals: Spam Musubi

    “Dad, could you make us Spam Musubi tonight?” my boys asked. You don’t need to have intermediate sushi-making skills to whip up a Teriyaki Spam Musubi.  With this easy recipe you can make yourself at home! Believe...

    • Posted July 20, 2022
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  • Japan makes a palm size portable projector.

    Unless you can afford to rent an apartment with a dedicated home-theater space, be content with a smaller version. This is where mini projectors come in handy. The newly released IRIE  SMART LIFE PROJECTOR is a mini...

    • Posted July 19, 2022
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  • Japan’s promising app for diners with food restrictions

    It is easy for people with food philosophies or diet restrictions to get attracted to trending foods on Instagram or  TikTok.  One thing social media doesn’t show though are food labels. When I heard about this new...

    • Posted July 1, 2022
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  • New Covid cases are up again this week.

    Japan is again experiencing a slight increase in new Covid cases this week. On Monday, Japan’s new case count is up by some 280 from a week before. There are 30,157 new coronavirus infection cases last week....

    • Posted April 5, 2022
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  • How to set up your Google Family Link to monitor your children’s online activities.

    Google Family Link is a parental control app. The application allows parents to restrict content, see what apps to approve or disapprove, restrict screen times, and websites they can open through the browser. In order to access the...

    • Posted April 4, 2022
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  • Number of Foreign residents in Japan are at a record low

    The number of foreign residents in Japan by the end of 2021 was 2,760,635 or 4.4% less than the previous year. This has been the sharpest decline seen since Japan started recording data in 1950, the Immigration...

    • Posted March 30, 2022
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  • Is it worth buying the new 5-G-compatible Balmuda android?

    Today, Balmuda Technologies, a new division created by Japanese company Balmuda,a cult brand for electric home appliances with a minimalistic design, announced the release of its first 5-G compatible android smartphone. This is the first smartphone launched...

    • Posted November 17, 2021
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  • Mitsubishi Motors Corporation rolls out its hybrid Outlander crossover SUV model

    SUVs have become increasingly popular with growing families in recent years for their spacious interior, aesthetic appeal, performance and practical running costs. Today’s era of unbridled innovation continues as car manufacturers in Japan bring themselves up to...

    • Posted October 29, 2021
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  • Seven Eleven’s vegan-friendly Tofu bars have become a hit during the pandemic. .

    With many restaurants closed during the pandemic, many people are finding that ready-to-eat food packs at convenience stores are enough to keep them afloat – hardcore vegans included. I’m a hardcore vegan and the very limited food...

    • Posted October 13, 2021
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  • Jon Kent, the son of Superman, is gay in new comics.

    The Superboy, Jonathan Kent, son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, is slated to come out as bisexual in Superman: Son of Kal-El #5, written by Tom Taylor, scheduled to be published on November 9. Jon and...

    • Posted October 12, 2021
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  • UK Children March to Buckingham Palace to Deliver Petition

    On Saturday, TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham led 100 children’s march to Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth to support a new environmental approach on its estates that will promote biodiversity across the UK. The children...

    • Posted October 11, 2021
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  • Unmasked nursery teachers send 65 infected kids to the hospital.

    Asahi News reported today that 65 children and 14 adults at Jyozan nursery school in Kumamoto’s Nishi ward,  tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Although the teaching staff were advised to wear masks, they were not strictly...

    • Posted September 10, 2021
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  • Meet the Teenpreneurs who just sold their first startup.

    Two teen coders from Seattle, Sage Khanuja, 17, and Nikolas Ioannou, 18, noticed a lack of patient-centered technology. They then developed a telemedicine startup Spira for patients to be able to track their respiratory health and other...

    • Posted July 27, 2021
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  • Brace yourself for soaring food prices.

    Japan’s food manufacturers are facing the toughest challenge as global prices of soybeans, wheat and other commodities continue to soar.  The pandemic has resulted in slow production and supply shortage due to weather and labor shortage.  When...

    • Posted July 7, 2021
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  • The Vegan Ramen here is delicious.

    As many ramen restaurants in Japan are discovering since the rise of the vegan population, concocting a plant-based noodle dish without relying on meat for umami, is fraught with challenges. After three years of trial and error,...

    • Posted July 7, 2021
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  • 7-year old boy dies after violent shoulder throws in judo class

    Huang, a seven-year-old boy in Taiwan mercilessly thrown to the ground 27 times at a Judo class in April, died on Tuesday, June 29. On April 27, the 67-year old Judo instructor ordered a 10-year-old classmate to...

    • Posted June 30, 2021
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  • Floating Toes in schoolchildren on the rise.

    The floating toe condition is currently attracting attention among researchers in Japan. On May 28, the University of Yamanashi announced that 96.7% of 396 schoolchildren surveyed in Japan had floating toes. Floating toes mean that at least...

    • Posted June 13, 2021
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  • Moomin Cafe’s Snufkin fair starts today.

    Moomin Cafe stand pays tribute to Moomin’s best friend, Snufkin, with adorable menus and drinks starting today. If you don’t know who Snufkin is, he’s a central character in Moomin and popular among Japanese children. He wears...

    • Posted May 14, 2021
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  • Experts Urge Stricter Coronavirus Measures amid traditional spring events

    At a Tokyo metropolitan government meeting yesterday, medical experts called for stricter measures to reduce new coronavirus cases in the capital before the state of emergency is lifted. “We need to not only curb the flow of...

    • Posted March 5, 2021
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  • Update: No-interest loans provided by Japan to people hit by pandemic expanded.

    In extending the state of emergency in 10 prefectures (including Tokyo), Prime Minister Suga on Feb 2, has introduced an additional emergency loan of up to 2 million yen per household. The special loans initially introduced in...

    • Posted February 4, 2021
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  • Japan’s Immigration Bureau warns foreigners about impostor scammers posing as immigration officials

    Impostor scams can cost you money, cause identity theft and serious consequences  that could impact your financial and mental well-being. While elderly Japanese people have been the major target of impostors, they now have turned to foreigners...

    • Posted January 26, 2021
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  • Japan considering to distribute vaccination tickets to all residents

    Japan’s administrative reform minister Taro Kono assured the public on Monday that the government will be developing a tracking and inventory system to comprehensively manage data without delay, for use in the planned distribution of vaccination tickets...

    • Posted January 26, 2021
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