Understanding Japan: The Tanabata “Star Festival”
Jul 08, 2019 By Bert Wishart
Tanabata, also known as the 'Star Festival', is a popular summer event celebrated all over Japan. As the festival's name suggests (literally 'Evening of the Seventh'), it is held on the seventh day of the seventh month, and depending on where in the country you are, this can follow either...[ Click to read more ]
Great Japan Beer Festival Nagoya
Jul 03, 2019 By Admin
When I first arrived in Japan, I was somewhat disappointed by the perceived paucity of decent beer selections. It seemed that no matter where I went I could find nothing more on draft than the near-identical brews of the ‘big 3’: Sapporo, Kirin, and Asahi. While these can be refreshing...[ Click to read more ]
See the Best of Kansai’s Fireworks Displays
Jun 17, 2019 By Justin Hanus
One of the most exciting aspects of Japanese summers is the multitude of dazzling fireworks displays to enjoy. Originally, fireworks (花火, ‘Hanabi’) were thought to help ward off evil spirits, but the tradition is still going strong today among tourists and locals alike as a coveted summer pastime. With hundreds...[ Click to read more ]
Fireworks Festivals in Tokyo
By Jason Gatewood
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 ]
Nagoya Summer Fireworks Festivals – Hanabi 2019
By Bert Wishart
For Brits like myself, fireworks displays conjure up memories of cold winter nights, huddling round bonfires and oohing and ahhing as both your breath and extremities freeze. While this is possible in Japan, here fireworks festivals, or hanabi matsuri, are very much a summertime thing. Fireworks Festivals in Nagoya Hanabi...[ Click to read more ]
July Festivals Around Nagoya and Beyond
Jun 13, 2019 By Bert Wishart
Though the air is getting hot and sticky and permanently filled with the perma-drone of cicadas, July is perhaps one of the best months in Japan (and not just because it's my birthday). That's July marks the beginning of the matsuri [festival] season. It is a time when local communities...[ Click to read more ]
Yoyogi Park, home of Tokyo’s “World Festivals“
Apr 24, 2019 By Jason Gatewood
Situated south of Shinjuku, north of Shibuya and just west of Harajuku, the expanse of lush greenery, rolling hills and clear ponds, 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 dedicated to...[ Click to read more ]
Diving into Hiroshima’s Sakes
Apr 23, 2019 By Matt Mangham
If you’ve only recently moved to Hiroshima, you may not yet be aware that you are in one of Japan’s three great centers for sake production, the other two being in Kobe and Kyoto. Of the three, Hiroshima is both the youngest and, by some metrics, the most innovative. Until...[ Click to read more ]
Cinco de Mayo Festival and Mexican Restaurants in Tokyo
Apr 19, 2019 By Bert Wishart
Cinco de Mayo, while originally a commemoration of an unlikely victory for the Mexican Army against the then powerful French in 1862, has in the US become something of a large celebration for all things Mexico. As these things tend to go, Japan has taken the American interpretation of the holiday, and...[ Click to read more ]
What is Golden Week?
Apr 18, 2019 By Bert Wishart
Japan is a nation that famously takes their working week very seriously. Hours are often long and hard and, as paid vacation is relatively limited when compared to many western countries, the decision to take time off is not taken lightly. This goes a long way to explain why Golden...[ Click to read more ]
