Food in Japan: A Photo Essay

Some (but not all) of my favorite eats 🙂 Traditional Japanese breakfasts can be eaten at hotels and ryokans (traditional Japanese inns). There’s often natto (fermented soybeans), some kind of fish, rice, soup, and vegetables. Okonomiyaki & Yakisoba The leftmost and rightmost pictures are okonomiyaki and the center is yakisoba. Hiroshima and Osaka were the two most popular spots I ate

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Reflections on a Semester Away: A Look into the Varied Experiences of Visiting Students

Beginning My Reflections  Boy, what a semester it has been. As is always the case with me, time felt so slow– too slow– in the beginning, but looking back at it from the end, it went by extremely quickly. My semester in Japan has been full of surprises (both good and occasionally not-so-good) and so with this post, I will

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Always Try Everything Once

After much consideration, the most useful lesson I learned this summer was to “always try everything once”. Obviously, there are boundaries to this saying– there are a handful of things I absolutely recommend never trying. But, in terms of cultural immersion through history, friends, and food, it’s hard to go wrong. I strongly believe that giving everything a try lets

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Omar in Kyoto, Japan

Omar looking at an owl

Omar in Kyoto, Japan   ようこそ!Welcome to my blog from Japan! My name’s Omar Pineda, originally from New York, and studying Mathematics and Asian Languages & Civilizations at Amherst College. I’ve been spending my Junior year in Kyoto, Japan with the Associated Kyoto Program since last August. Click the links below for stories and pictures on what I’ve been doing.

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