2021 Student Summer Picnic!

2021 Student Summer Picnic!

Thank you to everyone (including those not pictured) who came to our student picnic at the weekend!

We had fun meeting up outdoors, drinking tea, eating Japanese snacks and talking about Japan-related (and non-Japan-related) things.

It was so good to see students in person after such a long time!

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A Trip to Japanese Vegetable Farm Namayasai, or, Why I Had a Shungiku Omelette for Breakfast this Morning

A Trip to Japanese Vegetable Farm Namayasai, or, Why I Had a Shungiku Omelette for Breakfast this Morning

Did you know there's a dedicated Japanese vegetable farm right here in Sussex?

I spent a Saturday with the Brighton Japan Club at Namayasai, near Lewes. Namayasai a Japanese vegetable farm owned by Robin and Ikuko, from Devon and Japan respectively, and is a Natural Agriculture farm - a specific type of organic farming that uses no pesticides / herbicides / artificial fertilisers.

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I quit my day job! (sort of...)

I quit my day job! (sort of...)

Don't worry mum - I haven't quit my day job. Not as such. I recently went from full time to 3 days a week though.

It's great.

One of my students mentioned this week in passing that I must be busy, working full time somewhere else, and also running Japanese courses. I realised that I haven't told a lot of my students that I no longer have a full time day job.

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Afternoon Tea at Café an-an for World Vegan Day

Afternoon Tea at Café an-an for World Vegan Day

I was a vegetarian for ten years…then, I moved to Japan. I lasted about two weeks as a vegetarian in Japan, before swiftly abandoning my principles in favour of late-night ramen and fish for breakfast.

That's not to say that being vegetarian - or even vegan - in Japan is impossible. It just wasn't for me. But did you know that lots of wagashi (Japanese sweets) are naturally vegan?

I hadn't really thought about it, until I learned that Cafe an-an in Portslade was running an Afternoon Tea event for World Vegan Day on 1st November.

Here are some pictures of the tasty food I managed to take on the day - before I ate it all.

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