Tokyo’s Railway Museum: See Japan’s Locomotive History

Jul 24, 2023 By Michael Stigall

A good many visitors to Japan have been known to utter out loud, “There sure are a lot of trains in Japan!” …And they wouldn’t be wrong! We happen to have the world’s highest per capita train ridership and are home to The world’s busiest station. It is not an overstatement to...[ Click to read more ]

Great Beaches in The Kanto Region

By Michael Stigall

As the summer heat rises, retiring to your air-conditioned room with your necktie fan on full blast is tempting. However, Japan is an island nation, so we are surrounded by the sea and, thus, beaches. So leave that darkened room and head for the coast and the beach. Beaches in...[ Click to read more ]

Fruit Picking in Kansai

Jul 23, 2023 By Justin Hanus

Picking fresh fruit is a popular – and refreshing – pastime in Japan. In the Kansai region, there are many farms and orchards where you can roam around and pluck produce straight from the plant. You pay either by weight or time slot, depending on the farm. Some farms, in...[ Click to read more ]

Getting in Tents: Camping Around Hiroshima

Jul 22, 2023 By Bert Wishart

Finally, the heat and humidity of the summer have dissipated, and we can all get outside and enjoy the fresh air without losing half our body weight to sweat! This is the perfect time of year to dust off that tent and head out into nature – either with family,...[ Click to read more ]

Aso-Kuju: Kumamoto’s Breathtaking Park

Jul 01, 2023 By William Farrow

For residents of Kyushu, the outdoors and nature are always nearby. A far cry from the large cities of Honshu, people can expect a rich abundance of activities and places to visit. One of the first big must-see trips of the region is Aso-Kuju National Park, the emerald jewel of...[ Click to read more ]

What You’ll Find at Shinkaichi Art Plaza in Kobe

Jun 28, 2023 By Justin Hanus

Kobe has long been an important place for pop culture in Japan. Shinkaichi Art Plaza provides a venue to nurture all kinds of art forms, including theater, film-making, music, visual arts, and dance. It’s the perfect place for young artists to display their work, network with others, and rehearse for...[ Click to read more ]

The Best Views in Tokyo

Jun 27, 2023 By Michael Stigall

Tokyo is so many things and includes so many places that it is often hard to take it all in. Being in the city can sometimes remind me of a computer struggling to read a large file. There's just so much information and data and noise. To some, that may...[ Click to read more ]

Seeing Seto, a Four-Day Tour Around the Seto Island Sea

By Bert Wishart

Recently, when enjoying a couple of leisurely afternoon pints in The Hub, my wife Mai and I chatted with an Aussie lad in Japan on his 'trip of a lifetime.' "So, where are you visiting?" my wife asked, more out of politeness than curiosity. "I spent a few days in...[ Click to read more ]

Getting To Know You: Nagoya Port

Jun 25, 2023 By Bert Wishart

To the south of the city, Nagoya's port is one of Japan's busiest, servicing the country's central region of Japan, the hotbed of the nation's automotive industry. And I know what you're thinking: that doesn't exactly sound like a fun day out, right? And you would have been mostly right...[ Click to read more ]

Step Back in Time at Gifu Seiryu-Satoyama Park

May 30, 2023 By Bert Wishart

While most people besotted with Japanese history tend to focus on the periods of samurai and geisha, there is more to Japan than dudes quoting haiku and swinging katana blades. One of the most interesting periods was not that long ago, the Showa era (1926 – 1989), and at Gifu...[ Click to read more ]