For many people, spring really only means flowers, and plenty of them. Some of us can get all we need from a lazy afternoon or two under the cherry blossoms....[ Click to read more ]
It’s impossible. Even in my almost 2 decades of traveling all over Japan, I have yet to hit the magic number 47, the number of prefectures that make up Japan....[ Click to read more ]
You may have noticed not needing to crank the heater up as much, or seeing a bit more light in the skies past 5pm because the days are slowly getting...[ Click to read more ]
Do you know how it feels to perform death defying stunts in the air, to have the power of some of the world's most sophisticated artillery at your finger tips,...[ Click to read more ]
Situated between the sea and an impressive mountain range, Kobe boasts an array of stunning outdoor escapes located within and just beyond the bustling port city. Kobe might not be...[ Click to read more ]
When the Tokugawa Shogunate finally wrested political control from Osaka and moved the seat of power to Edo in 1615, few could have imagined that four hundred years later animosity...[ Click to read more ]
Baseball in Japan Nippon Professional Baseball (an organization similar to the USA's MLB) consists of two leagues, the Central League (Chunichi Dragons, Hanshin Tigers, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Yokohama DeNA...[ Click to read more ]
Japan largely missed out on the first bicycle boom of the 1880s and 1890s but when the bicycle became hot again in the 1960s and 1970s - mostly for recreational...[ Click to read more ]
Ume is not just half of an "umeshu," a Japanese liqueur made from unripe and green ume fruits. It is quite a lovely tree. "Prunus mume" is the tree species...[ Click to read more ]
Hanatouro is an "illumination festival" that happens in Kyoto twice a year at two separate locations. Actually there are two separate festivals that take place, the Kyoto Arashiyama Hanatouro and the Kyoto Higashiyama...[ Click to read more ]