お酒 (おさけ - osake) - Sake

お酒 or "rice wine" as it's sometimes mistakenly called, is a piece of Japanese culture and history that's been filling flasks and seasoning dishes for the better part of 2000 years. In fact, domestically it's known as 日本酒 (にほんしゅ - nihonshu) or "Japanese alcohol", which should give you some idea of its sway. With 2000 breweries currently operating in Japan and exporting internationally, the お酒 business appears to be booming - it now comes in as many varieties as wine or beer and can accompany cuisine from all over the world. It can be served hot in 冬 (ふゆ - fuyu - winter), cold in 夏 (なつ - natsu - summer) or at room temperature in between; you won't be left wanting for choice if you want to experience お酒 for yourself.

日本の四つの季節その3：秋 (にほんのよつのきせつそのさん：あき） - The Four Seasons of Japan 3: Autumn

秋 (あき - aki - Autumn) is widely considered the best season of the year in Japan, sharing a very comfortable temperature range with 春 (はる - haru - Spring). While 春 is associated with the excitement of new beginnings, in some ways 秋 is much more subdued; it's a time to relax, reflect and enjoy the weather as it cools the scorching highs of 夏 (なつ - natsu - Summer). Having said that, 紅葉狩り (もみじがり - momijigari - Autumn leaf viewing, literally "maple hunting") is as big a deal as 花見 (はなみ - hanami - cherry blossom viewing) and when you start seeing whole hillsides turning blazing red, I'm sure you'll understand why.

コンビニ (konbini) - Convenience stores

Like the ubiquitous 自動販売機 じどうはんばいき – jidouhanbaiki – vending machines), an extraordinary number of コンビニ dot Japan's landscape. While we may understand the basic concept of a convenience store or deli, a コンビニ is something else entirely, offering a range of services that go way beyond the humble choc milk and sausage roll. They’ve become an economic and social staple; by some counts there are more than forty thousand of them in the country and it doesn’t take long before you start feeling a few more wouldn’t hurt. They're also one of the only places you'll reliably find a rubbish bin!

Japaneats その6 - 焼き鳥 (やきとり - yakitori) - Grilled chicken on skewers

Now that the weather is starting to cool down, the grills are being fired up and we're getting back into all the lovely hot food of the colder months. If you need somewhere to hole yourself up from the rain for a bit, you might want to seek out a good 焼き鳥 spot. You'll know it by the blast of hot air and mouth-watering smells as you open the door, the cluttered little collection of tables and the bellows of "いらっしゃいませ" (irasshaimase - welcome) as you walk in. 焼き鳥 itself is about as old and uncomplicated as food gets  - as soon as we figured out sticks and fire, I'm sure the chicken was only a matter of time.

～放題 (～ほうだい - ～houdai) - As much as you like!

Reaching into Japan's bag of surprises today produces a little piece of paper that says "放題". It's added to a verb (or occasionally a noun), making the meaning "all you can X" or "X as much as you like". I'm sure most people would think of Japan as a conservative culture; most of what you see is small, delicate servings of food and minimalistic traditions. More and more though, a buffet culture of "放題" seems to be catching on and becoming another facet of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde nature of Japan. The next time you see a picture of a pretty girl in a 着物 (きもの - kimono) eating 寿司 (すし - sushi), bear in mind that it might be her 26th plate.

自動販売機 (じどうはんばいき - jidouhanbaiki) - Vending machines

自動販売機 (or sometimes just 販売機 - はんばいき - hanbaiki) literally means "automatic selling machine" and will probably be one of the longest Japanese words you learn. They've become a bit of a symbol of Japan and if you come to visit, you'll see why. You'll notice that there are a lot of them to say the least - the most of any country in the world, in fact. There's apparently one vending machine for every 23 people here (and the population is about 130 million). It's rumoured that they even have them on top of 富士山 (Fujisan - Mount Fuji)!

Let's have a closer look at a couple of our 5.5 million friends and see why they're so popular.