Nihonbashi used to be a starting point of travel routes. During Edo period when Shogun ruled Japan, there were several routes which people used for traveling and transporting goods. And the origin of these routes was Nihonbashi. Tokaido Way is one of those traveling routes. It is the longest route ...
Category: Walking
Ukiyo-e Tour to Kameido Tenjin ShrineUkiyo-e Tour to Kameido Tenjin Shrine
Kameido Tenjin Shrine in Tokyo has beautiful wisteria racks. If you visit there in late April or early May, beautiful purple flowers cover the whole area inside the shrine. And they annually hold Wisteria Flower Festival. However this year 2020, due to the spread of COVID-19, the festival was unfortunately ...
Walking along the Pilgrimage Routes in Kii AreaWalking along the Pilgrimage Routes in Kii Area
Let’s try virtual tour to the pilgrimage routes in Kii area. Last time, I tried virtual visit to Shuri Castle in Okinawa. This time, another virtual tour in Central Japan. If you read Japanese guide books, you may find many pilgrimage routes. But this one in Kii Peninsula has unique ...
Temples and Shrines and Lost World in SadoTemples and Shrines and Lost World in Sado
Sado Island has many old temples and shrines. This must be partly because many noble people came to this island. But these people came here not because they wanted to live in this northern island with cold and severe weather during winter. On the contrary, they were sent here as ...
How to Explore the Nature in SadoHow to Explore the Nature in Sado
The nature in Sado Island is really extensive from the sea to the mountains. So if you want to fully explore the nature, it is better to travel around by a car. There are bus routes but the services are not frequent. ...
Floating on a Unique Tub Boat – Sado Island –Floating on a Unique Tub Boat – Sado Island –
I had a very unique experience of a tub boat in Sado Island. It is literally a tub boat made of a tub cut into half. That’s why they call it a “tub boat”. But you may wonder “why tub?”. The story goes back to the early 19th Century when ...
Yakisoba Noodles in FujinomiyaYakisoba Noodles in Fujinomiya
Yakisoba noodles are typical Japanese foods sold in food stalls. You can find them often in festivals of temples and shrines. With some reason, Fujinomiya City, a town at the foot of Mt. Fuji is famous for yakisoba noodles. Japanese people love yakisoba so much that there are championship tournaments ...
Viewing Last Cherry Blossoms in TokyoViewing Last Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo
Cherry blossoms in Tokyo start blooming at the end of March. In Japan, each prefecture has its “sample tree” and when five flowers bloom, the Meteorological Agency officially announce the flowering of the cherry blossoms. This is because the timing of the flowering of cherry blossoms is very important for ...
Le Corbusier and the Age of PurismLe Corbusier and the Age of Purism
EOAs of 25 March, 2019, there are still 8 more weeks to go until the exhibition of Le Corbusier at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo will finish. This is the exhibition to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the museum which was designed by the world renown architect, ...
Old Japanese Inn for PilgrimsOld Japanese Inn for Pilgrims
Japanese pilgrimage is the origin of tourism in Japan. Japanese inn is a hotel for pilgrims and famous and popular shrines in Japan usually have many inns nearby. The most popular destination for pilgrimage was Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture. If you travel to Ise, you will find many old ...