The Japanese government lifted the state of emergency and the country is moving to the next phase of reopening. Onomichi City Museum of Art in Hiroshima Prefecture too resumed its special exhibition. But for some people, it means more than just a museum reopening. Yes, the battle between a man and a cat has resumed after a two-month of peace. A black cat tries...
Many zoos welcome babies in Spring. Suetoshi Farm in Saku City, Nagano Prefecture welcomed adorable babies too. The short video posted on Suetoshi Farm’s Twitter shows a couple of baby goats jumping on and off the back of a mama llama. Thanks to their abundant cuteness, the video now has 24,000 Likes, 9,000 Retweets, and 400,000 Views. Suetoshi Farm is a popular destination for...
Asahiyama Zoo is a classic Hokkaido destination because of its rare style of exhibits. We highly recommend it. The zoo was opened in 1967. At some point, it even had a rollercoaster and other rides. In the early days, it attracted as many as 600,000 visitors per year during the peak of its popularity, but the numbers began to decline in the late 1990s...
How many of you lived off instant ramen during your college days? It’s cheap, tasty, and takes just a few minutes to cook—a perfect match for the broke, hungry, and harried college student. The world’s first package of instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, was invented in Osaka by Mr. Momofuku Ando in 1958. Following the first invention, he released the globally popular CUPNOODLES in the...
Japan Ukiyo-e Museum, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture Ukiyo-e is one of the best-known genres of Japanese painting, established in the 17th and 18th centuries. That was the Edo Era, when much of what the West loves about Japan–woodblock prints, sushi, Kabuki, manga, and much more–flourished. The word “ukiyo” originally meant “modern” and “sensual.” The themes of the paintings tended to reflect the manners, customs,...
Kobe is a booming modern city with a vital seaport, skyscrapers, and shopping malls. At the same time, it is home to older enclaves where Westerners settled and a thriving Chinatown because of its long history as a trading center. These aspects have attracted more tourists to the city to imbibe the unique international atmosphere. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that Kobe...
In 1865, Seishichi Fujiya opened a Japanese sweets shop on Shichijo-dori in Kyoto. More than 150 years later, the confectioner is still there selling traditional. Despite its long history, Shichijo-Kansyundo is not bogged down by tradition. The current president has created a unique line of Kyogashi, or Kyoto- style sweets. Shichijo-Kansyundo has three stores in Kyoto. The main store has a café right next...
Anyone with a taste for traditional architecture must agree that the Japanese toilet is perfection. — Junichiro Tanizaki, from In Praise of Shadows You know you love them: TOTO’s toilets are second to none. They are high-tech wonders with warm seats, automatic lids, bidets, and more buttons than the cockpit of the Dreamliner. And now, when you visit Kita-Kyushu, you can worship them in...
Tucked into the Ukyo Ward of Kyoto is a movie studio called Uzumasa Eigamura. It’s used a lot for period dramas. When no one is filming, though, it turns into an amusement park and is popular with children and families. The largest set on the lot, known as Edo Sakaba, is the location for a two-night festival every year. Edo is the old name...
About 40 kilometers away from the heart of Kagoshima Prefecture at the southernmost tip of the Japanese island of Kyushu is an old neighborhood where samurais once lived. The living quarters and the little town have been largely left untouched since they were inhabited by the samurai class 300 years ago. The area is surrounded by beautiful hedges. There are no telephone poles here,...
