JAPAN TRAVEL
Hiroshima Memorial Cathedral of World Peace
Hiroshima’s A-Dome and Peace Memorial Park are its most poignant landmarks, and what most people come to Hiroshima to see. The Memorial Cathedral of World Peace is less visited, hidden in streets off the main tourist radar. Its impact is no...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
A Comfortable, Stylish Base in The Heart of Sumida
Before I came to Tokyo, I was warned that accommodation would be nothing like the luxury I was used to on my previous South East Asian adventures. I had nightmares about sleeping in tiny boxes that I could never escape from, and of c...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Hachioji's hidden discovery
Hachioji, in the western reaches of Tokyo, is historically known for its own unique style of ramen Hachioji Ramen, which evolved over the past 50 years. It's defined by a simple shoyu base, the thin layer of oil on top and—most distinctively—its chopped on...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
A mix of history, lore, and mystery
One of the countless historical figures young Japanese students are required to memorize in school is Prince Shotoku (574-622). He is credited with spreading and popularizing the Buddhist religion around Japan. It is said he was fond of the deity Y...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
 
An adventure in shopping
What’s the perfect complement to the lowest mountain in the land? A shopping mall and event space, and the largest ferris wheel in the world! That’s what Osaka decided.
 
The Tempozan Market Place is medium-sized shopping and entertainment complex located a...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Tokyo's cool suburb
Imagine crossing the almost dry riverbed of the Tamagawa Josui waterway as you exit Kichijoji in search of the nearby Ghibli Museum. You arrived early, but so fascinated were you by what you found there that you stayed until after sunset. Now the water is a raging...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Modern western cuisine in Kichijoji
Only ten years ago if a person wanted to find good quality western food in Tokyo outside of the highest priced restaurants, they would have had to settle for either Italian pasta or American burgers.
The quality of most Italian restaurants would ha...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
A hammock café and showroom
As I was purposely trying to get lost and discover original new places in Tokyo, I found a group of young people queuing outside what it seemed to be an ordinary café. I observed some of them patiently waiting while swinging and resting in white hammocks. ...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Tokyo tonkotsu style in Ikebukuro
Tonchin (屯ちん) serves classic pork bone—or tonkotsu—style ramen in the heart of Tokyo's Ikebukuro district. This first store opened in 1992, founded on the notion of putting greater emphasis on fresh ingredients and handmade noodles, that was simpl...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
An active volcano in Shikotsu-Toya National Park
Mount Tarumae is an active stratovolcano in Hokkaido’s Shikotsu-Toya National Park. It was formed by an eruption in the Shikotsu caldera roughly 9,000 years ago, followed by a cave-in that created today’s crater.
 
How to get there
Mou...

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