Summer is the time for rice paddy art, and you can see one example in the western part of Nagoya. The image is designed so that it looks perfect from the tower next to the paddy. Six different kinds of rice are used, one for each color. The rice we eat is used for the green background, but very old kinds of rice are used for black lines, and there are special kinds of rice that have yellow, white, red, and orange leaves. Although the best time to see rice paddy art is in July, you can still see it now. This year’s picture was designed by a popular YouTuber, Sakai Takahiro. It is a picture of his characters, Himari and the bear, at a Sports Day event. They are with a local character, Minapi, a bird that comes to Fujimae Tidal Flat in winter.   (145 words) Jaremaga now comes out online on

These days, I see a lot of plushies. They are soft toys that people can collect. Some are characters from anime and manga. Others are dolls of popular singers and idols. Junior high school and high school students in Japan often attach them to their bags. Sometimes, there are so many plushies that you can hardly see the bags! When I was growing up, we didn’t have those kinds of plushies. We had stuffed animals like teddy bears, and we kept them at home. Then, zoos and aquariums started selling different kinds of stuffed animals and fish. At Disneyland, they even sell jumbo-sized characters of Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. What about you? Do you collect plushies and put them on your bag? Or do you have stuffed animals and keep them in your room? Send me an email and tell me your answers.    (145 words) Jaremaga now comes out online on

I walked half a kilometer underground from Nagoya Station to an office building the other day. It was nice because I didn’t have to go outside in the hot weather. Large cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya all have large underground areas with shopping streets and passages to buildings. Even on extremely hot days, you can keep cool moving around underground. Although these underground areas are big, the biggest underground street networks in the world are in Canada. Montreal and Toronto each have more than 30 kilometers of underground streets. Why? Not because of the heat. Both cities have extreme weather in winter. In January, the average low temperature is -13 degrees Centigrade, and in some years, it can go down below -30 degrees! Without underground streets, these cities would probably shut down in winter.    (135 words) Jaremaga now comes out online on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. To become a paid subscriber and

When I want to relax and read something in Japanese, I choose a mystery. Most mysteries are not that difficult, and the stories are so exciting that I can’t put the books down. The last mystery I read was by Higashino Keigo. That’s why I was sad to hear the news of his death two weeks ago at the age of 68. Higashino was one of the most famous mystery writers in Japan. He wrote a lot! I think he averaged about two novels per year. Altogether he published 78 novels, and more than 20 of them were turned into movies in Japan. He is very popular throughout Asia as well, and three of his novels were made into movies in Korea.     (122 words) Jaremaga now comes out online on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. To become a paid subscriber and read it 5 days a week, go to “Support Jaremaga” below for more