Kawaii Japan Magazine

Blog header for a guide to the soroban, the Japanese abacus: a girl moving the beads at a desk, a large wooden soroban in the foreground, Japanese addition and subtraction practice sheets, and icons for concentration, memory, mental math and confidence
Soroban: How Japanese Kids Learn Mental Math on an Abacus

The soroban — the Japanese abacus — is Japan's most famous learning tool, and its place in Japanese childhood has quietly shifted. It was once the default after-school lesson...

July 23, 2026 Read more →
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Blog header for a guide to Japanese traditional games: a kendama and a painted spinning top on washi paper, children playing outdoors in a park, origami cranes and cherry blossoms, and a row of photos labelled Karuta, Ayatori, Kendama, Ohajiki and Shodo
Japanese Traditional Games: 10 Classics, and Which Ones Kids Still Play

Here's the thing most guides to Japanese traditional games get wrong: they present them as museum pieces, played o...

July 23, 2026
Blog header for a guide to ayatori, the Japanese string-figure game: a smiling child holding a red loop of string woven between her fingers, with inset string figures (cat's cradle, star, ship, crane, bridge) and cherry blossoms on a pastel background
Ayatori: Japanese String Figures, and Why Kids Learn Them

One loop of string, tied into a circle — that's the entire kit. And yet ayatori, Japan's string-figure game, is on...

July 22, 2026
Blog header for a guide to kendama, Japan's traditional wooden skill toy: a smiling boy outdoors mid-trick, swinging the red ball on its string above a wooden kendama with three cups and a spike, with cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji on a pastel background
Kendama: Japan's Traditional Skill Toy Every Kid Grows Up With

Outside Japan, kendama has a reputation as a trendy trick toy — the wooden cup-and-ball you've seen in slow-motion...

July 22, 2026
Colourful blog header for a guide to Pocky in Japan: a red Glico Pocky box and a Lotte Toppo box of chocolate biscuit sticks, a plate of chocolate and strawberry Pocky, cherry blossoms, Mount Fuji and an 11/11 Pocky Day badge on a pastel background
Pocky in Japan: The Everyday Snack, Pocky Day and Toppo, Explained

Outside Japan, Pocky often gets treated like a cute novelty — a fancy imported treat you buy for the aesthetic. In...

July 22, 2026
Bold graphic header for a guide to Japanese yankee culture: delinquent-style figures in embroidered tokko-fuku coats with pompadour hair, a customised lowrider car and a modified motorbike, set against a dramatic city sunset
What Is Yankee Culture? Japan's Delinquent Youth Subculture, Explained

Thanks to Netflix's hit dating show Badly in Love, the world is suddenly curious about Japan's "yankee" — the toug...

July 21, 2026
Header image for an Okinawa sweets guide tied to Netflix's Badly in Love Season 2: a spread of Okinawan treats including shaved ice, purple beni-imo mochi, sata andagi, a purple sweet potato drink and a beni-imo tart, on a table by an Okinawa beach
Badly in Love Season 2: An Okinawa Sweets Guide for the Netflix Hit

On August 4, 2026, Netflix's breakout Japanese dating show Badly in Love (Ravu Jōtō / ラヴ上等) returns for Season 2 —...

July 21, 2026
A spread of traditional Japanese sweets: red-bean taiyaki, a matcha ice cream parfait with dango, matcha roll cake, strawberry daifuku mochi, a tricolour dango skewer, a flower-shaped nerikiri wagashi, dorayaki and a cup of matcha tea
Japanese Sweets and Desserts: What Japan Actually Eats

Ask someone outside Japan to picture a "Japanese dessert" and you'll usually get the same two answers: matcha and ...

July 21, 2026
Don Quijote (Donki) comparison: what tourists buy (matcha KitKat, Tokyo Banana, Pocky, Hello Kitty) versus what Japanese people actually eat (onigiri, cup miso soup, natto, green tea, tofu), with the Donki storefront and Donpen mascot.
don quijote
Don Quijote (Donki): What Tourists Buy vs. What Japanese People Actually Eat

Narrow aisles stacked to the ceiling, a jingle you'll never unhear, and snacks in every colour of the rainbow cram...

July 20, 2026
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