JQR Special
Feature
JQR Interview
Quality-Review
Travel
Traditional & Culture
Japanese Skills
Gourmet
JQR Special
It can be easy to forget when you live here, but despite how many people live and work in Japan, cities are kept remarkably clean.
This applies not only to the roads or the train stations, but across all forms of public transportation, including trains, buses, and taxis.
It takes quite a lot of people to keep our cities beautiful. In this feature, we visit those cleaners at work.
Feature
Most of us grow up believing bigger is better.
But given the finite availability of land and the depletion of our resources, we may have reached the limit of how much space we should hope for.
Depending on your needs, though, a few ideas and a little ingenuity can make small spaces perfectly comfortable.
Smart use of small spaces—it’s what the world needs, and it’s great!
JQR Interview
Convenience store shelves are always lined with a mouthwatering array of desserts, and every month new products get put to the test in this extremely competitive market.
New desserts only have a week to prove themselves in trial sales, and those that don’t sell get taken off the shelves.
We asked three people in the food business to give their independent opinions of the top-selling desserts.
And the results...?
Quality-Review
The Shozo Izushi Selection No. 6
The evolution of bags created by Aero Concept
Travel
Kyoto has a history spanning 1200 years.
Since time immemorial, it has nurtured a mesmerizing breadth and depth of tradition and culture.
To touch upon the heart and soul of Kyoto, it is best to immerse yourself in the traditional lifestyle.
We suggest a leisurely stay in a machiya townhouse, the dwellings built many years ago for the common townspeople, in order to explore and appreciate the hidden charm of the city.
It will unlock the door to a realm of travel.
Traditional & Culture
Eco-friendly options for beating this year's summer heat
For centuries the Japanese have been experts at incorporating nature in everyday living.
As serious efforts to reduce power consumption and save energy gather momentum, this summer is the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves of the wise ways of our forebears, hone our senses and test some time-honored techniques for combating soaring temperatures.
Japanese Skills
A COP of 6-12: the Potential of Ground Source Heat Pumps
University of Yamanashi, Department of Research Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Medicine and Engineering Takeda Laboratory
Gourmet
Japan has several well-known beef cattle “brands”, at the pinnacle of which stand the cattle raised in Matsusaka.
Of these, Japanese Black heifers sourced from the Tajima and Awaji regions of Hyogo Prefecture and fattened for 900 days or more are in a class of their own, and are known as “premium Matsusaka beef cattle”.
Every November the Matsusaka Beef Cattle Competition (Matsusaka Nikugyu Kyoshinkai) is held.
In 2015 a total of 50 of these majestic animals took part in the event, and following two hours of painstaking judging, the 686-kg Momomiya, a 1,007-day resident of a Matsusaka feedlot farm, was crowned the 66th queen of the Matsusaka cows.
English