Daniel Morales
@howtojapanese
Translator, writer. How to get used to Japanese (Additional topics: Murakami, New Orleans, Chicago, beer, writing, translation, basketball). Based in Osaka.
The 1,000-yen lunch set is undefeated in Osaka. Does it still exist in Tokyo? Got the kinoko bacon risotto today.
Kimchi cold Cup Noodle not quite as good as the lemon but refreshing today. I added ice cubes this time.
Why bother with は or が when you can go straight to ありません！ Seen at a cafe in my neighborhood over the weekend. Too hot for cake, sadly.
I overdid it with the Cup Noodles after getting back to Japan in 2022 and basically haven't been able to stomach them for the past year or so, but this new one calls for refrigerated water and is really light and refreshing. There's a kimchi flavor too.
Also I platinumed Elden Ring on PS5 last night. What a game. My first ever platinum. My next closest is Baldur's Gate 3 at 41% complete.
We might have one more 29C day, but that rainy season reprieve is over. The hot weather is here.
Nearing the end of sub-30C weather here in Osaka. We've been lucky this year so far. Last year it got hotter faster.
Well, the new Murakami novel is out and it doesn't look like he added anything new to the short stories. At least nothing substantially new. Definitely not to the ending. I anticipate finding some superficial revisions here and there but not much else. What a disappointment.
Apparently I have earned some rainy season karma for my commute this morning. The skies have literally parted.
The five ethnicities: Italian, Mexican, curry, goma dressing, canned fruit.
I passed JLPT 一級 20 years ago in December 2026. I got curious about how the tests and testing have changed, so I decided to try something that makes no sense at all at take the tests again starting with N5 this July.
If you come through Kagoshima, Hatoya no pan is a must visit. Easily one of my top 10 bakeries in Japan. Everything looked incredible. No stinkers in the place. Also, amazing value. Most items were 200-350 yen.
When you turn around in a drug store or department store or konbini and Shohei is there.
Two Zwanze beers this year. A Blanche and a Rouge, lambics blended with dry and sweet vermouth. Pretty remarkable beers! Zwanze beers can sometimes be hit or miss, but they're great this year.
They're also advertising it as the first full-length novel with a female protagonist. I guess 1Q84 only half counts because Aomame was just one of the perspectives?
Murakami announces his latest novel. It appears to be a compilation of the stories/novellas in the "Kaho series" he's been publishing in Shincho over the past couple years. I'm reading the most recent one right now. They are not very good, so I'm curious if he will polish them at all.
I'm catching up on the Murakami novella from last fall and it's 100% trash. Characters just waiting around, talking about weird shit that happened, fantastical things that are just assumed, questions that aren't asked of other characters to prevent puncturing the bad logic fueling the story.
This is the most remarkable beer in Japan at the moment. (Please ignore the cleaning supplies in the background.)
Really interesting Asahi brew on offer right now: the "One Third." It's one part Asahi Kuronama (a great beer) and two parts Maru-eff (an OK beer). The result is pretty solid!
My latest read was a page by page 読み比べ of Tsushima Yuko's 寵児, Child of Fortune. Very interesting book.
Lieutenant Loaf arrived yesterday and I immediately fired her up and made a loaf of 100% whole wheat. It's so good I could cry. For $50 USD or less you can get a used machine in really good condition. Taking submissions for alternate names. Pain Producer? Crumb Captain? Old Crusty?
Got hyperfixated on black and white cookies and had to make some.
Opened our last pack of Lebkuchen from Gyomu Super today. This feeling will need to last me until December... Might have to learn to make these they're so good.
Planet brain: Cheetos Solar system brain: Flamin'Hot Cheetos Galaxy brain: Kansai dashi shoyu Cheetos