Space and current affairs
Why is Japan going to a moon of Mars?
H3 Flight 10 now has a planned launch time. The prize is at least ten grams of Phobos.
Japan Undercover
Field Notes
The useful explanation behind the post: concise context up front, sources and rights records underneath.
Language in the wild
A Japanese address is a zoom lens.
How prefectures, municipalities, chome, blocks, buildings, and Roman letters change the reading order.
Travel and practical Japan
Mount Fuji has four doors.
The routes are not interchangeable, and the 2026 gate rules are no longer optional background knowledge.
Language and geography
Japan has 47 prefectures. Only 43 are ken.
Why Tokyo, Hokkaido, Kyoto, and Osaka refuse the tidy English label.
Language
Japanese does not use three alphabets.
One sentence, three scripts, and a division of labor hidden by translation.
Ritual and performance
Why are their faces hidden?
The hats, black hoods, memorial tradition, and image rights behind Nishimonai Bon Odori.
Editorial architecture
What belongs here
Each Field Note is the permanent companion to a social post. It holds the fuller explanation, original-source links, image credits, corrections, and related JU material so the social feed can stay focused without becoming disposable.