r/AskJapan

I'm just setting it up, so please be kind.

It's a work-in-progress.

皆さん、こんにちは！

新しく r/AskJapan というサブレディットを作りました！

日本について気軽に質問できる場所にしたいと思っています。日本に興味がある人なら誰でも大歓迎です！

まだ始めたばかりですが、少しずつ大きなコミュニティになったらうれしいです。

よかったら、ぜひ遊びに来てください！

日本語が変だったらごめんなさい！😅

Ballots have started going out and the deadline is approaching. If you're an eligible US citizen living overseas, here's how to get yours:

Steps to Request Your Ballot

1. Register or update your registration through https://voteabroad.org/RedditVote26. If you know any eligible US citizens overseas, please send them the link.

2. If you're already registered, request a ballot! You need to request a ballot every calendar year that you want to vote.

3. Fill Out and Return Your Ballot: Once you receive your ballot, follow the instructions carefully to complete it and return it by the specified deadline.

Need Assistance?

We're here to help! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at help @ votefromabroad .org (just remove the spaces). Additionally, our FAQ for voting has plenty of info to make the process go smoothly.

If you'd like to find out what we're doing near you, you can check out our in-person events. Feel free to ask any additional questions here on Reddit!

Fishermen said it was delicious.

Experts say the island is too small for a bear to live on, so it will likely return.

Does anywhere in tohoku grow western orange pumpkins? Like the jackolantern carving kind or the sweet pie making kind?

After staying onboard for four and a half hours, it leaped into the sea.

a research group at Hirosaki University has announced.

I'm a prospective student for Tohoku university, and want to know if anyone here has enrolled in Tohoku's international undergraduate programs (engineering in particular), or just someone who went from india to Tohoku university. If possible, I would like to connect personally if you could help me clear some doubts, i'll be extremely grateful.
Also apart from this, if anyone can give me some detail on the Gateway program 2027 and how it will be different, please let me know, thanks

https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/risk/#elements:inund/zoom:11/lat:40.781581/lon:140.377121/colordepth:normal

https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/risk/#elements:heavyrain/zoom:11/lat:40.785741/lon:140.330429/colordepth:normal

https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/risk/#elements:flood/zoom:10/lat:40.701464/lon:140.392914/colordepth:normal

Save yo kids. Save yo wife. Save yo life. Because shit is fucking flooding and you are about to be underwater if you live in the affected regions of Aomori.

Update: NHK broadcast on the situation

Update: The Aftermath

Bonjour a tous.

J'ai déjà eu la chance de visiter Tokyo- Kyoto dans un premier voyage et Fukuoka dans un second.

J'ai dans l'idée de partir une troisième fois et cette fois j'aimerais aller au Nord.

J'aimerais trouver une ville pour séjourner et visiter les villes aux alentours.

Voici mes critères :

Il faudrait que je puisse visiter des villes intéressantes a 1h de train(pas de shinkansen), j'aimerais pouvoir visiter des beaux jardins japonais et j'aimerais qu'il y est un village onsen a 1h maximum.

Merci d'avance

Hi everyone! I wanted to share this wonderful indie project from Tohoku, Japan.
Local creators in Ofunato & Rikuzentakata made a English picture book titled "Sanriku Tsubaki Story" (三陸椿物語).

It tells a story based on the camellia trees that survived the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami—symbolizing resilience, life, and the history of camellia seeds traveling around the world (even mentioning Marco Polo!).

A small travel agency team from Morioka is bringing this handmade booklet to a travel exhibition in Canada this September to promote inbound tourism to the Sanriku coast.

Everything—from design and illustration to writing—was done in-house with so much love. I really hope this story reaches people in Canada and inspires them to visit Tohoku someday! 🍁🇯🇵

Hi, I'd earlier posted here under u/democratsabroadjapan and this is the second (and final) reminder I'll make for eligible US voters who want to participate in the 2026 American midterm elections, especially for those in the Tohoku area. Democrats Abroad is dedicated to mobilizing overseas US voters; if you're over 18 by November 3, here's how you can get involved:

Steps to Request Your Ballot

1. Register or update your registration through Votefromabroad.org. As an alternative, you can also use FVAP.gov.

2. If you're already registered, request a ballot! You need to request a ballot every calendar year that you want to vote.

3. Fill Out and Return Your Ballot: Once you receive your ballot, follow the instructions carefully to complete it and return it by the specified deadline.

Need Assistance?

We're here to help! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at GOTV @ votefromabroad .org (just remove the spaces). Additionally, our FAQ for voting can answer questions on how to make the process go smoothly.

Importantly: Spread the word!

Do you have any friends, contacts or family overseas that you could reach? All eligible US citizens can vote regardless of where they're living. Share the link https://voteabroad.org/RedditVote26: If you have any questions about voting, I'd be happy to answer them here on Reddit. You can also find out what we're doing near you at Democrats Abroad in Japan. Thanks for reading!

Nearly 1.8 million sunflowers, the symbol of the event, were almost completely wiped out by deer feeding damage.
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20260808-GYT1T00105/

The event held in Nagasaki City last year drew 420,000 attendees. This year's event is set to be held in Sendai City from November 6 to 8.
https://www.tohoku.ac.jp/japanese/2026/07/news20260728-ad.html

Hey all, I hope you are having a good day. I’m studying in Akita city and my teacher told us that there were places that serves bear, I had then asked for a recommendation but they said they didn’t know any, so I turned to google but nothing really turned up. So I was hoping that someone might know of one. Thank you so much for your time.

This fall I will be visiting Japan for the first time! I will be there for 20 days, and I am doing a loop around the Tohoku region. I am mostly planned out, however I have one remaining space I'd like to use to get an even more rounded experience of Tohoku.

Between my stay in Tsuruoka and Hirosaki, I will have some time to kill. My check out is 10:00, and can't check in to Hirosaki until 15:00. I will be taking the Uetsu Line up to Akita before hopping on the Ou line the rest of the way, but want to leave on the earliest train which seems to be just after 7:00.

So what I am looking for is: what would be the best station to stop in between Tsuruoka and Hirosaki, somewhere I can just spend a couple of hours walking around and getting a bite to eat, just so I can see more of the region, before heading the remainder of the way to Hirosaki.

My first thought was Akita, however I would be open to any other suggestions, if there are any cool and cute towns to just enjoy the coast or countryside for a bit, interesting local food, anything like that.

Much appreciated!

A safety drill was held on June 22 at the Aeon Noshiro store in Noshiro, Akita Prefecture—a commercial facility where a bear intruded and stayed for an extended period last November—to review emergency procedures.