About
I’m Japanese, born and raised — and this blog exists because of a question I couldn’t shake after coming home.
While I was living abroad in Georgia, I kept running into people who had this quiet, stubborn dream: “Someday, I want to go to Japan.” Their faces would change when they talked about it. Not just casual interest — real, burning love. Some of them knew things about Japanese anime, regional food, or old folk traditions that honestly caught me off guard. They’d gone deep into corners of Japanese culture that I, as someone who grew up here, had never even thought to explore.
That humbled me. And it made me curious about my own country in a way I hadn’t been before.
When I came back to Japan, something had shifted. Seeing home through the eyes of people who longed for it — I suddenly noticed things I’d walked past my whole life. The strangeness. The beauty. The details hiding in plain sight.
What I write about — and why
I’ve lived in a lot of places across Japan: not just Tokyo, but Akita, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Yamanashi. Each region taught me something different. Japan isn’t one thing — it’s dozens of distinct worlds layered on top of each other, and most visitors only ever scratch the surface of one of them.
That’s what this blog is about: the Japan that doesn’t make it into the guidebooks.
The temples that locals actually visit. The unspoken rules that explain so much once you know them. The regional foods, the neighborhood rhythms, the unexpected pockets of beauty in towns no one’s heard of.
And yes — anime. I’ve been watching anime since elementary school, and I’m not just talking about the popular titles. I want to share the deeper culture around it: the history, the craft, the subcultures, the stuff that even dedicated fans overseas might not know exists.
I also have a deep love for the more traditional side of Japan — shamisen, folk songs, natural dyeing with plants, and traditional wellness practices like Noguchi Seitai. The older Japan, the quieter Japan — it deserves just as much attention.
My philosophy
Japan rewards the curious. The more you dig, the more you find — and the more you find, the harder it is to leave. I want to help you get there faster: to move past the surface and into the Japan that actually surprises you.
My goal isn’t to be your tour guide. It’s to be the friend who grew up here — the one who can say, “Skip that. Go here instead. And ask for this thing that’s not on the menu.”
About the name
246 (Nyoro) — ニョロ
“246” comes from National Route 246, the road that runs through my hometown. “Nyoro” (ニョロ) is simply how you’d read those digits aloud in Japanese — a little silly, a little cute, and apparently fun to say even if you don’t speak the language. That felt right. This blog is about the Japan that surprises you, charms you, makes you laugh a little. Nyoro fits.
Got a question, a tip, or just want to say hi? Head over to the Contact page — I’d genuinely love to hear from you.