Above all, the "dacha" symbolizes Moscow citizens' unique lifestyle. Dacha refers to the Russian country cottage, with accompanying vegetable garden, where people who ordinarily live in urban or suburban apartments get away for the weekend, often at the dachas they own on the city's outskirts.
Dachas are not just for the well-off, but are an inheritance handed down from socialist times and widely used by ordinary citizens. Watching Russians harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers and other crops in their dachas' vegetable gardens makes you wonder just what true "wealth" is.

The amount of traffic in downtown Moscow is amazing, particularly when it comes to Friday afternoon. The city lapses into lines of cars with people who will be spending the weekend at suburban dachas, something like the year-end rush to countryside hometowns in Japan.
With the numerous Mercedes, BMWs and other imported luxury vehicles you see and the throngs of shoppers in shopping malls offering luxury brand products, the level of consumption is extremely high. Moscow's consumption boom is one indicator that wealth is concentrated in Moscow. The income disparities between outlying areas and the cities, as well as individual differences within the cities, are apparently becoming ever wider.

When Russians attend banquets, everyone offers witty remarks to accompany toasts with vodka. Being Japanese provides no excuse for escaping these rounds of toasts and greetings and you constantly need to be ready with reserve topics.
Also, even if you manage to get through your own remarks by smoothing over the cracks with enthusiasm, interpreting is a different matter and it is an extremely difficult task to communicate the abundant wit, occasionally combined with sarcasm and humor, of Russian speeches. There have been many occasions when, even though the Russian side is convulsed in laughter, there was nothing for me to do but to feign laughing because I was unable to explain the deeper, hidden meaning.

Borscht is what comes to mind when you mention Russian food in Japan, but this was originally a Ukrainian dish. The most well-known true Russian dishes are cabbage rolls, beef stroganoff and piroshki.
Mention piroshki and many people probably imagine deep-fried crusts filled with ground beef and chopped onions and diced hard-boiled eggs, but there are many different varieties commonly available, including baked; those filled with liver paste/salt-pickled cabbage/chopped chives/diced hard-boiled eggs; or even with home-made jam.

Along with the familiar Bolshoi Theater and Bolshoi Circus, among Moscow's abundant entertainments that can be enjoyed by the whole family are ballet, circuses and opera. I recommend seeing them if you have the chance on a business trip or during your vacation.