A convent with a secret, sesame-miso hotpot, and why it’s harder to get a Japanese boyfriend than a Japanese girlfriend

Hi friend, it’s me again. Last month there was a special edition of Japanagram because I found so many things I wanted to share with you while I was getting ready to launch The Last Tea Bowl Thief. The book is finally out now, YAY! And I was very surprised and excited to see it was named an Editor’s Pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense by Amazon. I hope you’re intrigued enough to have a look and maybe even try a sample. Meanwhile, here are the extra goodies that Japanagram subscribers got in October! |
Links to the SPECIAL EDITION Japanagram features:

WHY, JAPAN, WHY?
Why is it so much harder to get a Japanese boyfriend than a Japanese girlfriend?
The American character in The Last Tea Bowl Thief has had a longer relationship with her goldfish than with any man since she arrived, and I think the reason might surprise you…read more

BEYOND TOKYO
The convent with a thousand-year-old secret
Come with me to Jakko-in, the venerable convent that appears in The Last Tea Bowl Thief, and pull up your chair to hear the most amazing true story I’ve ever come across in my travels through Japan…read more

JAPANESE HOME COOKING
Savory Sesame-Miso Hotpot
The Japanese tradition of cooking fresh ingredients at the table in a clay pot is extra-magical. I make this hotpot whenever I invite people who don’t know each other very well to dinner, because cooking together somehow always leads to great conversations and lasting friendships…read more

BOOK REVIEW
The Last Tea Bowl Thief
This is the story of a tea bowl that passes from one fortune-seeker to the next for three hundred years. It’s also the story of two women—one American, one Japanese—whose futures depend on finding it. But neither can get her hands on it without the other’s help…read more
Coming in NOVEMBER…
🎑In November, we’re headed to a town with a beautifully restored samurai neighborhood and one of the most famous gardens in Japan, lit up at night, and I’ll teach you the secrets of everything from making delicious yakitori chicken meatballs at home, to how to put your thumb on the scale of fate, Japanese-style. If you’re not a subscriber yet, you can’t read these features until the end of the month, but it’s easy to join and get full access now for FREE! Click on the link at the end of each description or scroll down to the Get Japanagram button.
Here’s what’s in the November issue:

JAPANESE HOME COOKING
Chicken & Ginger Yakitori Meatballs
There’s nothing more crowd-pleasing than these delicious ginger-scented skewered meatballs, slathered in tangy yakitori sauce…(To get the recipe, click here to get Japanagram)

BEYOND TOKYO
Gold-leafed ice cream, exploring a restored samurai town, and the world’s most killer Japanese garden lit up at night
The town of Kanazawa surprises and delights with everything from a beautifully restored samurai neighborhood we can explore—both inside and out—to one of the three most famous gardens in Japan lit up at night…(To read more, click here to get Japanagram)

WHY, JAPAN, WHY?
Is it your lucky day? In Japan, fortune favors the vigilant!
If someone told you they wanted to move a meeting you’d scheduled because the astrology forecast for that day is too unlucky, you’d probably be moving them right off the payroll, wouldn’t you? Unless you’re in Japan, where that’s a perfectly good reason to change a meeting, wait to buy a car, or…(To read more, click here to get Japanagram)

SEASONAL SECRET
The weird & wonderful world of bonsai chrysanthemums
Yes, bonsai chrysanthemums are a Thing. And they happen in Japan every year in November. That’s when growers with wicked smart tricks for shaping this unassuming shrub with the meh flowers into things of wonder compete for the most over-the-top shapes and unbelievable profusion…(To read more, click here to get Japanagram)

BOOK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY
Idoru by William Gibson
As I admitted in that interview on My Haunted Library, my secret guilty reading pleasure is sci-fi. And nowhere does sci-fi intersect with Japan more spectacularly than in William Gibson’s Idoru. If you love Japan, but you’ve never read this book, I envy you! I’d love to be reading it again for the first time…(To enter to win your very own copy, click here to become a Japanagram subscriber)
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If you need a little break from the news, it’s not too late to get the November
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Click the button and sign up to get yours・° ♪・☆
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly newsletter Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
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Jonelle Patrick View All
Writing mystery books set in Tokyo is mostly what I do, but I also blog about the odd stuff I see every day in Japan. I'm a graduate of Stanford University and the Sendagaya Japanese Institute in Tokyo, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, the Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. When I'm not in Tokyo, I live in San Francisco. I also host a travel site called The Tokyo Guide I Wish I'd Had, so if you're headed to Japan and want to check out the places I take my friends when they're in town, take a look!