Akiba Mart Blog

2010 New Year Sale!

Posted on January 29th, 2010 Toku No comments

Akiba Mart had just started the “2010 New Year Sale” having discount up to 20% in Uji Tea and Tea Sets. Also for orders over $90 for Tea and Tea Sets, free shipping (including EMS international shipping) will be available.

It will be a great chance to try our best Uji Tea available. I believe you will be delighted with its taste and aroma. For the Tea Sets, these are worth having one at your home. Best to extract Uji Tea at your home, but also best for gifts to your important person.

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eCommerce eCommerce, Green Tea, Japanese Tea, Uji Tea
New Year in Japan

Posted on January 19th, 2010 Toku No comments

Happy New Year!

I was pretty busy at the end of last year through January this year. I spent couples of days with my parents and friends in Osaka and Kyoto. Ways of spending new year are like:
- Eating Soba (buck wheat noodles)
- Eating Osechi (special menu only eaten when celebrating new year)
- Eating Zouni (soup with rice cake)
- Going to Hatsu-moude (going to temples and shrines to wish good fortune)
- Giving Otoshi-dama (giving children some money)
Pretty neat huh?

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Japanese Lifestyle Kyoto, Noodle, Temples
Autumn in Mount Takao

Posted on November 22nd, 2009 Toku No comments

Cherry blossoms in the spring is the best season to visit Japan, but I would say autumn is another great season you can fully enjoy in Japan. Leaves in the trees changes its color from green to yellow and red, which is so beautiful that any painter can not copy in their paintings.

Just an hour ride on a train from Tokyo, Mt. Takao is the best place you can visit to enjoy this natural painting. Mt. Takao marked 3 stars in the Michelin guide, one of the world’s famous tour guide book. And yes, 3 stars is well deserved.

When you imagine Tokyo, what color do you see? I believe most of the people will not say green. Mt. Takao will break that! Full of nature, gourmet and shrines. This place preserves ancient Japan, not filled with skyscrapers like now a days…

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Japanese Lifestyle Mount Takao, Noodle, Tokyo
Typhoon Hits Mainland Japan

Posted on October 8th, 2009 Toku No comments

Early today, Typhoon Melor (18th typhoon this year) landed mainland Japan and according to the forecast, this typhoon will trace the mainland of Japan having strong wind and rain. Last time when large typhoon hit mainland Japan, it was two years ago. I do remember that transportation system stopped and water flooded on the street at many places in Tokyo.

Same as last time, today many trains stopped by this typhoon and people on the way to the office stuck in the train stations. Well, I decided to work at home

There is no reason to go outside when typhoon is raging.

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Japanese Lifestyle Tokyo, Typhoon
Matcha Parfait

Posted on August 31st, 2009 Susumu No comments

Today in Japan, a matcha parfait which is one of desserts using matcha powder is becoming very popular. So,I went to the cafe “IYEMON SALON” which is run by Suntory , famous for their product ” Iyemon Cha bottled tea “.

I ate pretty gorgeous parfait whose price was 930yen.

IYEMON Parfait

And when you order tea ,Tea and Houhin-teapot come and you make tea yourself.

Houhin and Tea

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Japanese Tea Kyoto, Matcha, Sightseeing
Zekkei The Main Gate of Nanzen-ji.

Posted on August 22nd, 2009 Susumu No comments

This picture is scenery from San mon, the main gate of Nanzen-ji.

The View from Sanmon

This is the place that Ishikawa Goemon who was a legendary bandit in Japan exclaimed “What a view (Zekkei kana)! What a view (Zekkei kana)! The spring view is worth a thousand gold pieces, or so they say, but it is too little, too little. These eyes of Goemon rate it worth ten thousand!” in the kabuki ,” Kinmon Gosan no Kiri” (“The Golden Gate and the Paulownia Crest”).
I came up there, then I agreed this is a wonderful view.

The gate of Nanzenji temple

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Japanese Lifestyle Kyoto, Sightseeing
Dawn on Mt.Fuji

Posted on August 2nd, 2009 Toku No comments

Last weekend, I went to Mt.Fuji for climbing and to watch sunrise from the peak. Mt.Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, and also is the symbol of Japan. Fuji is 3,776 meters high, so it will be really tough to conquer this mountain.

We drove a car for about a half of its way to the peak and then started to walk then. As altitude getting higher and higher, temperature will get lower and lower. Not only temperature, but density of air will be thinner and thinner that some people will suffer from altitude sickness. Climbing Mt.Fuji is not so easy.

But when we overcame this challenge, we can see the most beautiful sunrise

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Japanese Lifestyle Mount Fuji
Rush for Eels!

Posted on July 23rd, 2009 Toku No comments

What is your favorite Japanese food? Sushi? Tempura? Well, those are very delicious, but ask the same question to Japanese. Maybe you can hear surprising answer. Japanese like to eat eels. I do love to eat eels too

In Japan, there is a culture to eat eels in “Doyou no ushi” day. “Doyou no ushi” day is a day defined in Japanese traditional calender. This year, July 19th is the day. In this day Japanese people rush to eel restaurant to have eels. Exciting, isn’t it?

This culture is made by Gennai Hiraga, a famous inventor in Edo period. People in Edo period did not eat eels in summer, and so the owner of eel restaurant asked Gennai how to sell eels in summer. Gennai’s idea was to make advertisement saying “Today is ‘Doyo no ushi’ day”. By this advertisement, people rushed to that eel restaurant believing that eating eels in “Doyo no ushi” day will help to gain power to overcome hot days in summer.

Today, it is proven that eating eels really help to gain power. Eels contain vitamin A and vitamin B a lot. So let’s eat eels and be healthy.

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Japanese Lifestyle Eel, Unagi
Beautiful Festival in Japan

Posted on July 19th, 2009 Susumu No comments

I went home to Kyoto to see the Gion festival (Gion Matsuri) from July 16th to the 19th . If you say Kyoto’s summer, we say, “Gion Matsuri”. Soon after the Gion festival, the rainy season ends and humid summer begins in Kyoto.

The Gion festival is one of the three main festivals of Japan. And it is most beautiful festival of Japan! The festival peaks on the 17th July, when 32 beautifully decorated floats (Yamaboko floats) parade through the city. These Yamaboko floats are described as a “moving museum”.

Though I repeated visits to this festival, every time I am impressed by this festival’s beauty . If you visit Japan in summer,please visit the Gion festival in Kyoto!

The scenes of Gion festival at the corner of Oike and Shinmachi streets.

More photos are below

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History of Japan, Japanese Lifestyle Festival, Gion festival, Kyoto
Black Boiled Egg in Hakone

Posted on July 11th, 2009 Toku No comments

I went to Hakone, which is famous for hot spring. I will take about 90 minutes by car from Tokyo. There are a lots of spots you can visit when you go to Hakone, and Owakudani is one of them.

Owakudani is a volcanic valley, and is a source of hot springs in Hakone. Hot water flowing and steam rising is the best view you can see there.

Popular taste of Owakudani is Kuro-tamago (meaning “black egg”), which is a boiled egg made by hot spring. Iron contain in the hot spring make the color of the egg shell black.

Taste of this egg is just like a normal boiled eggs… Nothing, special. One thing special is that this egg costs 100 Yen (about 1 US Dollar). So expensive for an boiled egg. Well, this is just a memorial thing to get and not to really enjoying the taste of the egg itself.

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Gourmet Hakone, Spa
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