Your Summer Prep Checklist
May 31, 2024 By William Farrow
As the sun begins its daily climb earlier and earlier with each passing day, the familiar signs of summer have begun to show. Experienced Japan residents know what this means - Long, humid days interspersed with intense rainfall depending on how the typhoons play out for the season. Summer can...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo Fireworks Festival in 2024
By Michael Stigall
Fireworks and summer festivals are arguably the best part of summertime in Japan, with days spent wearing yukata and jinbei traditional clothing while munching street food and nights spent outside watching literally hours of explosions and enjoying the atmosphere of the festival, and the crowds. Summer festivals are a rare...[ Click to read more ]
Things to Do with Kids in Kumamoto
May 29, 2024 By Justin Hanus
If you’ve got kids, you’ll know how important it is to have an ongoing list of activities and places to go to entertain them at weekends or during school holidays. Kumamoto has a number of attractions designed for kids and plenty of places where the whole family can have fun....[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo’s Best American BBQ
By Michael Stigall
In the United States, BBQ is cooking meat for long periods at low temperatures with smoke from a wood fire. BBQ adds a distinctive smoky taste to the meat, and depending on the style in question, BBQ sauce. While BBQ traditions may not have originated in the United States, they...[ Click to read more ]
Let’s All Go to the Keiba-jo! Where to See Horse Racing Near Nagoya
Apr 30, 2024 By Bert Wishart
Though it has much changed over the centuries, keiba [horse racing] in Japan is not merely a sport; it's a cultural phenomenon deeply ingrained in the nation's fabric. With a history going back to the 8th centruy, when its role was of a more religious bent, horse racing remains today...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo Oktoberfest 2024
By Michael Stigall
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Japan loves beer. So it's no surprise there's an Oktoberfest festival happening somewhere at any point in the year. For Golden Week, Octoberfest is coming nearly half a year early in late April and early May. For those of you who...[ Click to read more ]
Yoyogi Park – Where The World Comes to Tokyo
By Michael Stigall
Situated south of Shinjuku, north of Shibuya and just west of Harajuku, the expanse of lush greenery, rolling hills and clear ponds known as Yoyogi Park serves as an oasis of refreshing nature in the concrete jungle known as Shibuya Ward. It’s also the home of Meiji Jingu, the shrine...[ Click to read more ]
Bonus Flower Viewing with the 2024 Sakura Tulip Festa
Mar 26, 2024 By Michael Stigall
So we’ve talked about plum blossom viewing and cherry blossom viewing, but what if I told you there is a third type of flower viewing you could do here in Kanto? Spring doesn’t only bring cherry blossoms, it also brings tulips. These tulips can be found in Sakura City, Chiba...[ Click to read more ]
Day Trips from Tokyo
Mar 25, 2024 By Michael Stigall
Now that the weather is getting better, we can start focusing on my favorite Tokyo pastime: Getting out of town. There are actually more options to accomplish this than you would think. Sure, when talking about trains in Japan, people either think of the Shinkansen high-speed rail lines linking Japan's...[ Click to read more ]
Getting Arty – What’s on in Nagoya’s Galleries
By Bert Wishart
Art lovers in Nagoya have been a little disappointed in recent years. Firstly, the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts closed down in 2018, and now the Nagoya City museum is undergoing a renovation that will not see it reopen until 2026. However, there are still some great exhibitions be be...[ Click to read more ]
