About This Website

Ehime Prefecture・Dōgo Onsen

“MORIKOBOSHI” is a blog that shares a variety of information about Japan with the world.

Japan is a country with a long and rich history. Throughout that history, a rich traditional culture has emerged. Even though much of this traditional Japanese culture remains across the country, quite of lot of it can be difficult to comprehend. On top of that, much of this culture can be difficult to come into contact with if you don’t know where to find it.

In the modern era, Japan has also produced quite a lot of popular culture that is renowned across the world. This popular culture includes cartoons, movies, and even some of the most stylish fashion in the world. Understanding this popular culture will give one a very good understanding of what Japan is like today.

This website includes information about the difficult-to-understand traditional Japanese culture, the renowned popular culture, and where they can both be found. But information about the culture of Japan and areas that are a must-visit aren’t the only aspects of Japan that are shared. To understand Japan from the inside out, Japanese food, traditional Japanese crafts, Japanese history, many aspects of Japan can be found here. This website will help one to gain a sense of just what type of country Japan is and how to enjoy it to the fullest.

The name “MORIKOBOSHI” comes from the Japanese word 盛りこぼし (morikoboshi), which is a particular way in which 日本酒 (nihonshu) or Japanese rice wine is poured. There is a specific glass that is used when drinking nihonshu which is often placed in a 升 (masu—a square wooden cup) or directly on top of a plate. When pouring nihonshu one will fill up the glass to the rim deliberately spilling it into the masu or plate below. This particular way in which nihonshu is poured is referred to as morikoboshi. Just like the way nihonshu is deliberately spilled, this website has quite a lot of information about Japan on it, it’s practically spilling out. Also, the love of nihonshu that the founder of MORIKOBOSHI (Richard Perkins) has also played a big part in the naming of this website.

Richard Perkins

Richard first came to Japan in 2009 (in his third year of high school) as part of a short-term study abroad program. While studying Japanese at a language school in Tokyo he lived with a Japanese family. Finding various aspects of Japanese culture interesting, Richard knew that he’d like to visit Japan at least once in his life, which is what lead him to study there.

Richard grew up in the state of Massachusetts in America, and after graduating high school entered college there. However, with a desire to further his Japanese language skills and learn more about all aspects of Japan, he dropped out of college and returned to Japan in 2012, just one year after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. After studying at a Japanese language school for two years, Richard went on to study at Takushoku University in the city of Hachioji, Tokyo.

In his first year in college, Richard passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1. He spent his long spring and summer breaks in college traveling around Japan, using cheap railway tickets and overnight buses. On top of that, Richard volunteered countless times in the Northeastern region of Japan, the area that was devastated by the huge earthquake and tsunami on March 3rd, 2011. He also volunteered in Kumamoto prefecture in the south of Japan, which was devastated by several large earthquakes in 2016. Throughout these experiences, Richard fell in love with traveling across Japan and also fell in love with learning more and more about the "Land of the Rising Sun" (Japan).

After graduating from college, Richard got a job at an average Japanese company as a translator of car manuals. However, with a love of learning about all aspects of Japan, he started the website “MORIKOBOSHI”. Whenever he has time off work, Richard continues to travel across Japan. Through this website, he shares what he has learned, also sharing the experiences he has had. His ultimate dream is to make traveling across Japan and posting blogs about those trips on this site his full-time job.

In his free time, Richard enjoys watching Japanese movies. He’s a fan of the movies by directors Akira Kurosawa, Takeshi Kitano, and Yoji Yamada, but most of all he enjoys Japanese period movies such as “Zatoichi” in which 武士 (bushi—samurai/warriors that could be found in Japan until the Meiji period) show off their skills with a Japanese sword.

Richard also enjoys visiting Buddhist temples and Shintō shrines and collects 御朱印 (goshuin—stamps/seals with the name of the temple or shrine visited handwritten upon them). He goes all across the country to collect goshuin and while doing so is constantly on the lookout for delicious locally brewed alcohol. He also can’t get enough of all the regional food in Japan and loves sampling the local specialty of the prefecture he’s visiting.