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Finland

Japan’s first Finnish-style sauna facility with private rooms opens in Tokyo

Avoid the big city crowds and carve out a moment for yourself in your own private sauna. 

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Muji designs cool all-weather self-driving shuttle bus, aims to implement it in Finland in 2020

With any luck, we might be able to see this awesome autonomous public transport quite soon.

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Nanami “Seven Seas” Nagura wins 2018 Air Guitar World Championships in Finland【Video】

23-year-old Japanese minor celebrity figuratively smashes her competition to become number one in the world.  

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Students in Finland, the world’s best-educated country, react to Japan’s harsh school rules

Would these Finnish students be as successful if they’d gone through the Japanese school system instead?

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“The Moomins” was originally brought to Japan by spies

Thanks to years of espionage and international intrigue, Hattifatteners and Snufkin were first brought to Japan.

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Catbus from Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro found in Finland!

Out of all the things we wish would spring to life from Studio Ghibli’s animated films, the catbus from My Neighbor Totoro would have to be at the top of the list. Who wouldn’t want to ride an enormous, fluffy, bright orange cat over hills and through forests on their daily commute?

As with all great things, if it can’t exist in real life, it can at least exist in the imagination. And there’s one imaginative lad who’s found a way to bring the catbus to life in the cutest way possible. All it takes is two ingredients: a fluffy, compliant cat and some Finnish beer.

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Upcoming announcement for a Moomin theme park has fans clamoring for info 【Update: Confirmed!】

Over two years ago, the Finnish Ambassador to Japan announced that a Moomin theme park was being developed in Japan with the expected opening date in 2015. Some of our readers might be asking, “What the heck is a Moomin?” but these hippo-like fairies who originated in Finland have a very strong following and fan base in Japan. You might not be familiar with Moomin before you come to Japan, but once you get here, you grow to welcome them at your dining table.

Well, it’s already halfway through 2015, and there is still no Moomin theme park ready to take our money. Or is there? There might be a forthcoming announcement that has us all in a tizzy.

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Find your Finnish name with the Finn generator

When it comes to Finland, there’s no shortage of opportunities for getting acquainted in Japan’s capital of Tokyo. From cafes where you can chow down with cute, stuffed Moomin characters created by a famous Swede-Finn, to Finland’s top doughnut chain, Arnold’s, and Karhhu, Finland’s number one beer, it’s easy for Tokyoites to take their taste buds for a dip in Nordic cuisine.

Now, people in Japan have found a new way to get acquainted with Finnish culture with the introduction of a clever little name generator from VisitFinland.com. Simply enter your name and within seconds you’re bestowed with the Finnish version, complete with a full explanation of the meaning behind your new name. We translated some well-known names and found they were connected to the wild nature of Lapland and mysterious tales of forest kings. 

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Where Santa Claus buys his burgers: the world’s northernmost McDonald’s

Everyone, do you know where the world’s northernmost McDonald’s is? Here’s a hint: you can sometimes spot the aurora borealis from there. Our Japanese reporter recently headed up north to check it out and brought back some very cool photos that we wanted to share with you.

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  • Jun 6, 2012

Who looks like the former President of Finland? An unexpected case of look-alikes

In Japan, we say that there are (at least) three people in the world who look exactly like you. Well, we seem to have found 2, possibly 3 publicly recognizable figures who look very much like each other. Could they be doppelgängers? Read More