• Japan's Nightlife - Your Guide To Enjoying The "Afterhours" In Japan
    May 31 2022
    THIS is definitely the episode you don't want to miss if you have any interest in doing anything "after dinner" in Japan. Isaac and Abby discuss some of the unique aspects of Japan's Nightlife culture; what it has to offer, the in's and out's and how to best enjoy it as a tourist or foreigner. They discuss some of their personal experience's of the nightlife of Japan, elaborate on their best practices and also provide details/recommendations for those unfamiliar with "Japan at Night". If you have any further questions or comments, feel free to connect with us on our social media pages. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    58 mins
  • Itadakimasu! Let's Dig Into Japanese Cuisine & Food Culture, Part 2
    Mar 30 2022
    We start off this episode with a Japanese food taste experience! Abby brings some of her favorite finds from her recent trip to an Asian food store and Isaac tastes some of them for the first time. After the taste test though, we talk more about connections between food and culture within Japan. We cover everything from children’s school lunches in Japan to Konbini’s (Japanese Convenience Stores) to how food plays into Japanese cultural holidays. Food will always be connected to any countries culture, so here we breakdown how Japanese food relates to our experiences with the culture as well as tying in how it relates to our USA upbringing. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Itadakimasu! Let's Dig Into Japanese Cuisine & Food Culture, Part 1
    Mar 15 2022

    The Hibana Podcast returns to talk about Japanese Food and how food relates to culture. This topic of Japanese food and culture is certainly a multi-episode topic, so if you are interested, we will discuss more on our next episode. 

    Unfortunately, we don't want to break any copyright (or whatever) laws, so we couldn't play the "Sukiya" song that we talked about for the outro, BUT here is the link to the song: Sukiya Song By Dela (It is a pretty fun song, in Isaac's opinion!) 

    Also, as always, feel free to hit us up on our social media pages. 

    Lastly, thank you to all of our listeners. We hope you have gained some interest or better understanding through our discussions. This has always been a genuinely fun conversation between ourselves and we thank you for listening but mostly hope that you have gained some insight from it.

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Travel Etiquette in Japan
    Aug 20 2021

    Sorry, for the recent lack of content, but Hikari Travel Agency (HTA) is ecstatic to get back into the swing of things!

    This episode, Isaac & Abby talk about some of the proper etiquette that they recommend you follow when traveling to/throughout Japan as a foreigner.

    As expected, they provide their personal experiences of living and traveling throughout Japan as well as commenting on some of the more mainstream recommended etiquette in Japan.  Not all of their personal experiences flow with the common published "Proper Japan Etiquette" though, so if you want to hear the real or slightly embarrassing details then give a listen to this episode! 

    Also, they discuss some of the up-coming future projects that HTA has been planning!  Definitely listen to the end to hear the announcements, but we recommend you follow our social media for the details! (sorry if that sounds like click-bait, but social media is where we continuously post)

    SIDE NOTE: The Japanese term that Isaac was referencing when talking about an informal, after-work gathering is known as "無礼講" (bureikou). 

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Living in Japan as a Foreigner, Part 2
    Apr 7 2021

    This episode is Part 2 of our “Living in Japan as a Foreigner” topic.

    As always, be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too. If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to like us on our social media outlets for additional content.

    Let us know what you think! We would love to hear suggestions for future episodes too!

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    52 mins
  • Living in Japan as a Foreigner, Part 1
    Mar 23 2021

    For this episode, HTA discusses the experiences that come with living in Japan as a foreigner for an extended period of time. Being a long-term foreigner in Japan comes with many interesting experiences! This episode aims to discuss some of our honest opinions on the advantages/disadvantages of it. This episode is Part 1 of 2.

    As always, be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too. If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to like us on our social media outlets for additional content.

    Let us know what you think! We would love to hear suggestions for future episodes too!

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    44 mins
  • Our Japanese Travel Wishlists
    Feb 4 2021

    Isaac and Abby both bring their personal, Japan Travel Wishlist's (Bucket List's) to the table to share with you!

    After kicking it off with an intense game of じゃんけん (Janken, Japanese Rock-Paper-Scissors), we dive deep into the things we really want to do in Japan, but haven't done yet.

    Everything from AKB48 through Japanese tea ceremonies and up to Mount Fuji is covered, so be sure to listen to this one.

    As always, be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too. If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to like us on our social media outlets for additional content.

    Let us know what you think! We would love to hear suggestions for future episodes too!

    *Also, the Sapporo Winter Olympics were actually held in 1979 =P

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Your Japan HOLIDAY Travel Guide!
    Dec 12 2020

    As we are in the middle of the holiday season in the USA, we thought it would be the perfect time to discuss some Japanese holidays too!

    This episode dives into some of the interesting aspects of Japanese holidays and festivals, as well as how Japan celebrates (or doesn't) some Western holidays.

    We discuss everything from drifting wooden karts at the Danjiri Matsuri to Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas, so you won't want to miss this engaging episode!

    Be sure to interact with us on the Hikari Travel Agency Facebook Page too!

    --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hibana-podcast-by-hta/message
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    1 hr and 7 mins