Ise Ebi Matsuri (Lobster Festival)
May 29, 2018 By Bert Wishart
For much of the world, there is little more decadent than dining out on lobster. However, here in Japan, lobster - while still relatively pricey compared to most seafood - is by no means the preserve of the uber-rich, and nor is the festival that celebrates it each year. All...[ Click to read more ]
Getting Up Close and Personal at Nagoya’s Sumo Stables
By Bert Wishart
The sumo season centers around six fifteen-day major competitions, or 'honbasho', throughout the year, with three events held in Tokyo in January, May and September, one in March in Osaka, one in Fukuoka in November, and July sees the Nagoya Basho. The honbasho - literally 'real tournament' - are of...[ Click to read more ]
Rice Planting Events in Hiroshima
By Matt Mangham
I always recommend venturing out of the city if you can. Rural Hiroshima Prefecture is a knockout, and this is a wonderful time of year. The spring foliage still shows its fresh, pale green on the hills, and the worst of the summer heat is weeks away. Most of the...[ Click to read more ]
Hiroshima’s Toukasan Festival
By Matt Mangham
For four hundred years, Hiroshima’s Toukasan festival has marked the arrival of summer for locals. Stretching over three days on the first weekend in June, the festival is officially in honor of Touka Daimyoujin, a deity enshrined at Enryu-ji, a temple one block north of Peace Boulevard on Chuo-dori. Also...[ Click to read more ]
Atsuta Shrine Festival in Nagoya
May 18, 2018 By Ray Proper
Atsuta Jingu, ranks in importance second only to the Great Shrine of Ise in Mie, which is the center of the Shinto religion in Japan, and draws over 9 million visitors a year to its gates. The shrine, located in Atsuta Ward of Nagoya City, dates back nearly 2,000 years,...[ Click to read more ]
Tebasaki Summit – Scaling the Heights of Nagoya’s Most Famed Food
May 16, 2018 By Bert Wishart
Americans could be forgiven for thinking that chicken wings come from Buffalo, and Brits may think of them as that bit of the Sunday roast that no one really wants, but there are few foods quite so close to the heart of the people of Nagoya as the humble chicken wing. Tebasaki, to...[ Click to read more ]
Thai Festival in Nagoya’s Hisayaodori Park
May 01, 2018 By Ray Proper
The annual Thai Festival in is an extremely popular early summer event in Nagoya. Held at Hisayaodori Park, rain or shine, you can enjoy a wide selection of Thai Food and Drink from the many vendors. Most of the Thai Restaurants in Nagoya participate, and the food is excellent. You can also...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo Java: Why Are Indie Coffee Shops Opening All Over The Metropolis?
Apr 26, 2018 By Jason Gatewood
We’ll forgive you for thinking Japan was all about the green tea if you’ve never been here before. Of course we pride ourselves on having over a hundred varieties of o-cha you can drink, and the image of a kimono-clad stern performer of tea ceremony is forever burned into our...[ Click to read more ]
English Language Kagura Performances in Hiroshima
Apr 25, 2018 By Matt Mangham
There are a number of styles of dance and performance around Japan that go by the name of "kagura," but in western Japan the word almost invariably refers to the lively, narrative performances centered on Shimane prefecture’s famous Izumo Shrine. Long popular throughout the Chugoku region (Hiroshima, Shimane, Yamaguchi, Okayama...[ Click to read more ]
Hiroshima Flower Festival 2018
By Matt Mangham
If you’re looking for something to do in Hiroshima over Golden Week, why not consider dropping by the 42nd annual Hiroshima Flower Festival? Each year Hiroshima’s Peace Boulevard is closed to traffic and, for the three days of the festival, is used for parades, dancing, music and food stalls to...[ Click to read more ]
