Kobe Love Port or the Minato Matsuri 2017
Jun 27, 2017 By
The Kobe Love Port (Minato Matsuri) is an annual festival held on Dainitotte (the 2nd Pier) east of Meriken Park close to the Port Terminal station on the Portliner. The festival celebrates Marine Day, express gratitude for the blessings of the ocean, and hope for prosperity in the coming year. This festival has a distinct nautical...[ Click to read more ]
Sanno Matsuri, One of Tokyo’s Three Most Important Festivals
May 30, 2017 By Bert Wishart
When it comes to festivals (matsuri), nothing can quite beat Japan in the summer. Pretty much every town and city will have one, and Tokyo, being the cultural (and pretty much geographical) epicenter of the country, has more than its fair share. One of the capital's three most important matsuri...[ Click to read more ]
Hydrangea Walk in the Kobe City Forest Botanical Garden
May 25, 2017 By Admin
The Kobe City Forest Botanical Garden, is a massive botanical garden and arboretum located near Mount Maya in Kobe, Japan. Despite its close proximity to the city, the "garden" is an oasis of nature where you can immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the forest. There are several hiking...[ Click to read more ]
Toukasan Festival: Hiroshima’s Official Start of Summer
May 23, 2017 By Jade Brischke
Toukasan (とうかさん) is not only the biggest festival in Hiroshima, but also one of the oldest of the summer festivals in the whole of Japan. Dating back some 400 years, the three-day festival is the event the highlights the fact that summer has officially begun. Held every June on the...[ Click to read more ]
Japan Alps Art Festival 2017
May 19, 2017 By Bert Wishart
While the area is famous for hiking in summer and skiing in winter, when one thinks of the mountanous prefecture of Nagano, art isn't exactly the first thing that springs to mind. However, this preconception may be about to change. Up in the northwest of the prefecture, from early June to...[ Click to read more ]
Summer Nights With Tokyo’s Magical Fireflies
By Bert Wishart
There are four key ways that you can tell that summer on its way in Japan. The top three are obvious: the convenience stores replacing nikuman with cold ramen; cool biz mercifully replacing suits and ties in the office, and everyone is saying "atsui ne!" every thirty seconds. But the fourth one?...[ Click to read more ]
Sake Breweries Around Nagoya
Apr 25, 2017 By Bert Wishart
Were you to take the evidence offered up by Japanese TV, you might be fooled into believing that the Japanese drink of choice was either humdrum lager or cans of whiskey highball. But you would be wrong. There is no doubt that the national drink of Japan is sake, or to...[ Click to read more ]
Tokyo International Art Fair
Apr 16, 2017 By Admin
The Tokyo International Art Fair is the first commercial fair of Japan to establish an international network for Collectors to connect and engage with the Artists directly - commission free. With talented exhibitors coming from all over Europe, also UK, US, Australia, and local Asian artists. You can look forward...[ Click to read more ]
Get More Than Your Fill at Osaka’s International Festival UTAGE
Mar 23, 2017 By Justin Hanus
If you are going to be known as the capital of something in Japan, there aren't many better things than to be the "Food Capital of Japan," a title often bestowed on Osaka. Every four years Osaka has hosted the International Festival UTAGE (Japanese for "feast,”) a sort of foodie...[ Click to read more ]
Getting to know you: Osu, Nagoya
Feb 26, 2017 By Bert Wishart
Between Nagoya's central transport area of Meieki (Nagoya Station) in the west, and the lively shopping and commerce hub of Sakae in the east lies Osu, one of the city's more interesting and eclectic areas. Centered around its covered shopping arcade, Osu has an atmosphere similar to Tokyo's Harajuku, with aging hippies happily rubbing shoulders with...[ Click to read more ]
