The Last 12 Months
It’s exactly a year since Big On Japan first came online. Over the past year articles I’ve published here have included the Toilets In Japan series, the Website Review series, and the My Favourite Slang series - if you want to know the definition of expressions like runway futon, Gameboy dropper, Flying While Gaijin and mentalist, then you’ve come to the right place!

Other articles have included The Axe Effect (about deodorant in Japan), Beer And The Mother Tongue (about beer vocabulary in the English language), The Sasebo Burger Nazi (about a hamburger restaurant owner), Around Osaka (about the Tsuruhashi area), Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (about Tokyo’s best skyscraper), Sampling Sake (about a Sake Museum), Big In Japan - Kiku (about Japan’s national emblem) and Kure Kure Takora (about an insane kids’ TV show from the 70s).

As well as articles, I’ve also been posting photos on this site as part of the Photo of the Month series, plus other interesting and unusual photos such as samurai Colonel Sanders, the Harajuku oddball, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the vomit bar, Tsuruhashi (Osaka’s Korea Town), the claw machine with live lobster prizes and the ultra big condoms. I’ve also put a few bizarre Japan-related videos on Big On Japan - Survival English, Kure Kure Takora episodes and a toilet training video.
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Definition: Turbo (noun) a compressor that increases the power of internal-combustion engines found in cars, motorbikes etc. Shandy (noun) A drink made by mixing one part beer and one part lemonade (American English=soda)

Turbo Shandy: An extra-potent shandy made with one part beer and one part alcoholic lemonade, which ‘increases the power’ of the beer.

Example sentence: “If you lot have been out since 5 o’ clock I’ve got a bit of catching up to do. I’d better get on the turbo shandies right away.”

Explanation: In contrast to Japanese laws regarding the consumption of alcohol before driving, British laws are less strict about the amount of alcohol you can drink before getting behind the wheel(1). The exact amount varies depending on factors such as the person in question, whether they’ve eaten anything, the speed with which they consume the alcohol and the type of drink consumed. In the case of beer, approximately two pints is the maximum amount most people can drink before driving.
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Sake Ippai

A lot of sake, in the kind of barrels often seen in Shinto shrines.