Ritsuko has plenty of friends and acquaintances spread out all over Japan. There's a stronger tradition of gift-giving here than I'm...

Two weeks ago, just ahead of autumn, we took a trip to Aomori. Aomori prefecture is the northernmost prefecture on the main island of Honshu...

We're going on an overnight trip to Aomori on Saturday and Sunday. We'll be meeting a friend of Ritsuko's, eat lots of fish and...