Japan’s Best Onsen Towns
Oct 14, 2015 By Bert Wishart
As temperatures around the country fall, now is the perfect time to indulge in the Japanese pastime of onsen. Best described as a hot spring bathing spa, onsen is a long held tradition in Japan and the near endless supply of geothermal springs is the one positive aspect of living in a nation of constantly shifting tectonic...[ Click to read more ]
Yokohama Day Trip – Five Fun Things for the Family
By Bert Wishart
Despite being the second largest city in Japan, the port city of Yokohama sometimes gets dismissed as a satellite town to the ever sprawling metropolis of Tokyo. And while it is true that the capital's close proximity can cast something of a pretty big shadow, and that by comparison it...[ Click to read more ]
Take a Journey Through Time at Meiji Mura
Sep 30, 2015 By Bert Wishart
Have you aver wanted to travel back in time, to see what life was like in another era? Well, at Meiji Mura you can do just that. Overlooking picturesque lake Iruka, Meiji Mura (meaning 'Meiji Village) is an open-air museum on the outskirts of Inuyama. It is home to over...[ Click to read more ]
Relocate to Japan – Arriving in Tokyo via Haneda Airport
Jul 13, 2015 By
Tokyo enjoys two international options: Haneda Airport (Tokyo International Airport) and Narita International Airport. Of these, Tokyo International Airport, or "Haneda Airport," is the preferred option for its convenience. Narita International Airport is actually located 60 km east of Tokyo in Chiba prefecture, and was for many years the only airport providing international...[ Click to read more ]
Visit The Chita Peninsula!
Jun 29, 2015 By Ray Proper
Chita Peninsula, or in Japanese 知多半島 - Chita Hantō, is just south of Aichi Prefecture, east of Nagoya City in Central Japan. The peninsula itself runs basically north-shouth. To it's west lies Ise Bay, to it's east Mikawa Bay. If you are looking to get away from the city and...[ Click to read more ]
Tsushima Tenno Festival – Japan’s Most Spectacular Summer Festival
May 28, 2015 By Bert Wishart
If Kyoto’s Gion festival is the biggest of the summer festivals, the Owari Tsushima Tenno Matsuri in Aichi is perhaps the most spectacular thanks to its beacon of shining lights floating down the Tenno river. What is the Tsushima Tenno Festival? For 500 years people have been braving Aichi’s mid-summer...[ Click to read more ]
Japanese Cooking Classes in Tokyo
Apr 14, 2015 By Bert Wishart
Food shopping in Japan has a reputation for being a touch on the expensive side, and as you wander the aisles of your local supermarket looking at your basic groceries – cheese, fruit, freshly baked bread – it is hard to disagree. However, if you look at local produce you will find that...[ Click to read more ]
Noritake Garden – Nagoya’s Ceramic Star
Feb 27, 2015 By Bert Wishart
Aichi is well known as a centre of Japanese industry, but what is less well known is that it is also the birthplace of one of the world’s leading ceramic dinnerware "china" brands, Noritake. In Japan the word Noritake evokes images of high quality and prestige, it is to Japan what Wedgwood is to England....[ Click to read more ]
Naked ambition – Take part in Konomiya’s Hadaka Matsuri
Jan 27, 2015 By Bert Wishart
“You make your own luck in this world,” as the saying goes. Whoever coined the phrase could have been thinking of the Hadaka Matsuri in Konomiya, but making your luck here is no simple task. It takes strength, perseverance and a (perhaps sake induced) imperviousness to the cold. If you...[ Click to read more ]
Hiwatari Shinji – A Buddhist Fire Walking Ritual
Nov 27, 2014 By Bert Wishart
Winter in Japan can get a touch on the chilly side, can’t it. So, what’s the best way of warming up? Sitting under a kotatsu? Attaching hot kairo heat pads to your body? How about walking through fire? Okay, maybe the latter one is a bit extreme, but that doesn’t stop the...[ Click to read more ]
