Story by Dillon Font

Living in a foreign country is daunting, no matter how excellent your language skills are. Where can you turn to in Tokyo when you need a bit of a helping hand? Thankfully, you’re not the first person to question this, and multiple community-based organizations have risen up to provide English-language support for the gaijin both within and beyond the Yamanote loop.

Welcome Furoshiki

Taking its name from the traditional wrapping cloth in Japan used to carry anything from bento to gifts to a friend’s house, Welcome Furoshiki provides support and information for newcomers to Japan.

A Welcome Furoshiki representative will come to your home, giving you a free welcome pack overflowing with English-language information on living life here. The representative can also answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Since 1983, over 15,000 families and individuals have benefited from the service.

Kanto Area: 03-5472-7074
Kansai Area: 06-6441-2584

Photo: Michelle May, Director of Sponsors and Public Relations and Sherry Hartsell, Director of Reps and Visits

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Along with the chrysanthemum, sakura (桜 or cherry blossoms) is one of Japan’s most famous flowers―and one of the most-loved. Also the flower embossed on the back of the one hundred yen coin, sakura trees bloom for all of around one week out of the whole year–even less if it rains. Every year, traditionally between mid-March to mid-April, explosions of pale pink cascade through the country, south to north, leaving a trail of delicate petal confetti. This fleeting beauty is not only appreciated but also celebrated in Japan, where people lay out picnic sheets underneath the blossoms to enjoy leisurely lunches. Called ohanami (お花見), the activity literally translates to flower-viewing and can occur during the daytime and at night if trees are specially lit. Yozakura (夜桜) or night-time cherry blossoms are stunningly picturesque―even slightly eerie―and are not to be missed.

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Reflecting the growing number of talented foreign musicians, poets and artists in Tokyo, many foreigner-friendly bars and cafes across town host weekly and monthly open mic nights. It’s a win-win situation for all parties involved: performers don’t have to pay to get up on stage (a common practice at many live houses in Japan), customers get free entertainment, and the venue gets some extra traffic. Here are our favorite venues to go check out (and participate in as!) local talent.

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Story by by James Coulson

Thanks to plate tectonics, Tokyo lies equidistant of America and Europe. For us here in Japan this means we are recipients to regular shipments of the best international DJs from around the world. As many of us already know, someone can always be found somewhere spinning the wheels of steel alongside Japan’s own legion of talent, in ground-shaking venues so good it borders on otaku…but in a good way! The following are some such locations that regularly host the best of these East-meets-West DJ events, yielding dangerously enjoyable nights of pure club magic.

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