As I embarked my journey on my Japanese language studies, I began to notice that there are many Japanese presences in my country. So in this blog, I will talk about all the Japanese things that can be found in Singapore.

Food 食べ物

The first thing I would mention is food. There are a lot of Japanese restaurant in Singapore. For example, Ajisen Ramen, Ichiban Sushi, and Yoshinoya. You can find this restaurants in many major shopping centres in Singapore, even those in neighbourhood malls. There is also some smaller snacks stall that sells sushi too.

Some shopping centres have a 'Japanese Food Street'. I found one in Nex Shopping Centre at Serangoon, where there are a lot of Japanese restaurants and stalls.

I also found Japanese food at the basement floor of Takashimaya (Ngee Ann City), where they sell taiyaki and yakisoba.

I also found several Japanese dessert shop at the Marina Bay Link Mall, selling many kinds of Japanese pastries and desserts.

Japanese food is not just limited to restaurants, it can also be found in hawker centres and food courts, which sells food at a lower cost about S$3 to S$6 (250 yen to 500 yen).

Household Products 家庭用品

Many household products I can find at home are Japanese ones. There are several stores that sell Japanese household products, such as Japan Home and Daiso. I also found some innovative products in Isetan at Orchard.

Anime and Manga アニメと漫画

Personally, I find that anime and manga are very popular in Singapore. There are shops that sell manga, such as Comics Connection, though most of the manga are imported from Taiwan (that are in traditional Chinese). Compared to few years ago, a lot of shops that sell anime goods had sprang up. On the 7th floor of Plaza Singapura, you can also find anime shops such as cosplay and toys.

There is also an annual anime festival, known as Anime Festival Asia (AFA), usually held at Suntec City Convention Centre for 3 days. Not just Singapore, AFA is also held at Malaysia and Indonesia.

Education 教育

In tertiary institutions (e.g. polytechnics and universities), full-time students can learn Japanese language as a general modules aside from their core ones. There are also many foreign language centres.

I started my Japanese language studies in my polytechnic.

Music 音楽

Japanese music can be found in most karaoke. I found several of them in K-Box. Also, sometimes Japanese artistes and bands would come to Singapore to conduct concerts, such as One Ok Rock.

Work 仕事

While I was under an internship in a large company, I overheard a Japanese man talking over the phone in Japanese. I found it rather amusing to hear the language used in a country where the official language is not Japanese. Later, I found out from my manager that there is a section in the company where the employees conduct businesses with the Japanese.

Airport 空港

Signs written in Japanese can also be found in Changi Airport. So are there really a lot of Japanese tourists in Singapore?

That's all about I can find I guess.

I also wanted to add that Singapore is a cosmopolitan country where 40% of the entire population are foreigners. That's why there are many foreign influences in my country. Not just Japan, China and South Korea also have big influences too.