You may find it weird if I say there are several Mt. Fuji in Tokyo. But there are. I heard that there were over 100 Mt. Fuji in Tokyo. As I wrote a little in my previous posting about Mt. Fuji, there was a custom to worship Mt. Fuji. During ...
Category: Biking
Strolling About the Autumn FestivalsStrolling About the Autumn Festivals
September is the season for autumn festivals. Every weekend, the festivals are held somewhere in Japan. It is the festival to appreciate the crop. Almost every town in Japan participates in the autumn festivals of the region. Typically, people carry portable shrines and offer the pray at the shrine. Along ...
Finding Unique Facade in TokyoFinding Unique Facade in Tokyo
Sometimes, Japanese shops have unique facade. I would like to show them to you whenever I found one. Today, let me present you the examples I saw recently. Facade 1: A Carpenter on the Roof The first one is the roof of the office of a construction company Takachiho Construction ...
Making a One-and-Only Notebook in the WorldMaking a One-and-Only Notebook in the World
When I went to Kuramae last time, I saw a stationery shop called Kakimori. This is a very unique shop where you can make your own one-and-only notebook. There are two sizes you can choose from; B5 (182x257mm) and B6 (128x182mm). ...
How to get bikes in TokyoHow to get bikes in Tokyo
When I go around Tokyo on weekends, I usually go biking (except during the hot and humid season). So many courses introduced in this website are accessible by bikes. Mine is a folding bike so I can get on a train with this bicycle and go cycling somewhere far ...
Exploring Tokyo Bay AreaExploring Tokyo Bay Area
It’s been so hot! It will be a good idea to go to Tokyo Bay area and feel the sea breeze under this hot and humid weather. There are many spots in and around Tokyo Bay Area so it is rather difficult for me to choose where to recommend. Among ...
Toyo Bunko Library – One-Million Oriental Books and Ukiyo-e PaintingsToyo Bunko Library – One-Million Oriental Books and Ukiyo-e Paintings
If you visit Rikugien Garden or Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, walk a little bit more and you will find a unique museum of Toyo Bunko Library. It was built in 1924 by Mitsubishi clan as a library for the oriental studies. Today, they have about one million books of Asian countries and ...
Finding Your Favourite in Artisans’ Town KuramaeFinding Your Favourite in Artisans’ Town Kuramae
Kuramae has quite a few artisans’ workshops. Sometimes the town is called as Brooklyn in Tokyo. If you visit those workshops, you may find something special is waiting for you. Those crafts are what you cannot find in the ordinary chain stores or branches of large-scale retail shops. ...
Window-Shopping in the Wholesalers’ Town of KuramaeWindow-Shopping in the Wholesalers’ Town of Kuramae
Kuramae is a town of wholesalers. As I wrote in the previous posting, there are shops old and new. Kuramae in Japanese means “in front of the rice warehouses”. It was called so because there used to be rice warehouses where Edo Government during 17th – 19th Century kept rice ...
Finding Craft Shops in KuramaeFinding Craft Shops in Kuramae
Kuramae is not far from Asakusa and a kind of “emerging artisanal area” as lots of craft shops lined up along the street. Some of them are century-old shops and some are new comers including trendy cafes. There is a good mixture of old and new. ...