Uchikura & Co Blog
2026-09-29
Dining in the Dark at Honōa Japan has a restaurant called Kurayami Restaurant Honōa (暗闇レストラン 灯無). Its dining room is kept completely dark, offering guests a chance to experience a meal without relyin...
2026-09-29
The Grateful Crane — 鶴の恩返し(Tsuru no Ongaeshi) Long ago, an elderly couple lived in a small house near the mountains. One snowy evening, the old man found a crane caught in a trap. He gently freed it,...
2026-09-29
蚊帳の外 — Left Out of the Conversation A kaya (蚊帳) is a mosquito net placed around a sleeping area. If you are 蚊帳の外 (kaya no soto), you are outside that net, separated from the people inside. Today, t...
2026-09-29
Can You Carry a Small Swiss Army Knife in Japan? A small Swiss Army knife seems harmless. It fits on a keychain, and its blade may be shorter than your little finger. In many places, people carry one...
2026-09-28
“肝を抜かれる”: To Be Stunned The Japanese expression 肝を抜かれる (きもをぬかれる, kimo o nukareru) means to be deeply shocked, astonished, or frightened. It describes a moment when something is so unexpected or impre...
2026-09-28
Hidamari: A Warm Place in the Sun On a cool morning, sunlight enters a room and forms a warm patch on the floor. A cat finds it first. Later, someone sits there with a cup of tea. In Japanese, that s...
2026-09-28
“Dema” Does Not Come from “Demakase” When I hear the Japanese word デマ (dema), I think of false information or a rumor that has spread without anyone checking it. For years, I assumed it was short for...
2026-09-27
Hibachi? You Mean Teppanyaki? When I first heard someone in America say, “Let’s go out for hibachi,” I pictured a small charcoal fire warming a room. Instead, we sat around a large iron griddle while...
2026-09-27
Kitsune no Yomeiri: A Fox’s Wedding In Japanese, 狐の嫁入り (kitsune no yomeiri) literally means “a fox’s wedding.” It describes a sunshower: rain falling while the sun is still shining. The phrase turn...
2026-09-27
“Washing Your Feet” In Japanese, 足を洗う (ashi o arau) literally means “to wash one’s feet.” As an idiom, it means to quit a line of work, leave a group, or turn away from a past way of life—often one...