It’s the season of plum blossoms! This year, the Plum Blossoms Festival of Yeshima Tenjin Shrine started on 9 February. The festival lasts until early March so I though going there now would be a little too early to enjoy the flowers. But it was not. ...
Category: Walking
Strolling Around Alleys in ShinjukuStrolling Around Alleys in Shinjuku
Narrow alleys, in my opinion, are typical Tokyo streetscape. They are sometimes straight, sometimes winding but always narrow. And they often have many small shops, restaurants and houses along the alleys. Shinjuku has several such alleys. The street scene often reminds Japanese people of good old days. ...
Night Visit to Autumn FoliageNight Visit to Autumn Foliage
In Japan, some gardens may open at night during the peak time of autumn foliage. Such gardens are usually packed with people and it is often prohibited to use tripods. You know, taking photos at night without a tripod is extremely difficult. But I found that Higo Hosokawa Garden in ...
Walking in the Autumn GorgeWalking in the Autumn Gorge
There are many places in Japan you can enjoy walking during autumn. I took a one day trip to Yamanashi Prefecture and had a good walk in the autumn gorge called Nishizawa Keikoku Gorge. ...
Restoring Old Japanese HousesRestoring Old Japanese Houses
Some old towns in Japan still maintain the traditional townscape of old Japanese houses along the street. Nonoichi City is one of such towns. But where is Nonoichi? Perhaps, many people even in Japan don’t know this town. This city locates next to Kanazawa City and it actually became prosperous ...
Visiting an Old Japanese Sweets ShopVisiting an Old Japanese Sweets Shop
The origin of Japanese sweets has a deep connection with the history of the culture of tea ceremony in Japan. Where tea culture is rooted, there are a variety of traditional sweets. Kyoto is famous for the culture of tea ceremony as well as sweets. Another famous town is Kanazawa. ...
Garden in the SkyGarden in the Sky
These days, roof-top garden is not so surprising. But I happened to visit a “garden in the sky” which was quite unique. It is Meguro Sky Garden. This garden is over Ohashi Junction which connects Metropolitan Expressway and Central Circular Expressway (Chuo Kanjo-sen). Whaaaat? The garden over the expressways? What ...
Cycling along the RiversideCycling along the Riverside
The weather was not particularly good today but it was not hot anymore. As far as it is not raining, it’s good for cycling. So I decided to go to the riverside. Starting from Monzen Nakacho, I headed towards the Tokyo Bay. The good thing about cycling along the riverside ...
Slipping into an Alley of Good Old DaysSlipping into an Alley of Good Old Days
The atmosphere of good old days in Japan is, in my opinion, best reflected in alleys. Even today, if you go into the narrow streets, you can find something inherited from good old days. Wondering around the alleys is one of the fun things to do for example in Yanesen ...
International Arts in Japan – What’s New?International Arts in Japan – What’s New?
In Tokyo, museums and galleries often hold exhibitions of international arts. For example, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno now exhibits paintings of Leonard Tsuguharu Foujita. He was a Japanese-French painter of École de Paris. The poster of this exhibition used one of his famous paintings, “Cafe” which now belongs ...