JAPAN TRAVEL
A history lesson in first and seconds
It took just one hundred and sixty years to transform this sleepy fishing village into the second largest city in Japan.
After two centuries of isolation, Japan pressured by Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s fleet relented and agreed to open four port...

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JAPAN TRENDS
 
Two things people readily associate with Japan are elements of history (especially samurai) and technology (particularly, at least more recently, somewhat wacky examples).
These two are present in abundance in this video of a stunt sponsored by telecommunications giant SoftBank, fe...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
A side trip to the back of an elephant
Have you ever heard of the Kumano Kodo? If not, you should definitely check it out. The Kumano Kodo consists of several ancient pilgrimage trails on the largest peninsula of Japan and is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. These trails h...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
All anime lovers, gather up!
For the past five years, professionals, anime fans have gathered at Tokyo Big Sight for the annual AnimeJapan to share the latest trends and releases from the Japanese animation industry. This year, 150,000 visitors came to AnimeJapan 2018, which took pla...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Paradise found
This was the Garden of Eden that the folks in downtown Naha forgot, let alone those in the far away capital of Tokyo. Perched on an ocean side mountain about 400 meters above the beaches of north-west Okinawa Island, there are stunning and uninterrupted views out to wh...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
An architectural treasure in Nagano
Before I pitch a visit to this gem of architectural history, a word of caution: if you like throngs of sightseers, busy souvenir traps and long, clamorous lines outside noodle and ice cream shops, Unnojuku is not the day trip for you.
This old post...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
The place of martyrdom for the hidden Christians
Tsuwano has many famous historical spots, but Otome Toge (乙女峠｜おとめとうげ）is where the history itself is not of achievement, but of hardship and sorrow.
Christianity was forbidden for most of the Edo period (1600 - 1868), but it ...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Ride the Tokyo Sakura Tram to find a slice of old Tokyo
The Toden Arakawa Line is one of the only remaining streetcars in Tokyo (the other being the Setagaya Line) and the last remaining vestige of the streetcar system that sprawled over Tokyo for the first half of the 1900s.
 
The c...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Soba taken to the next level
Specialising in soba and grilled skewers, Jinenjoan opened in Yokohama's Aobadai area in Feb 2018 promising to liven up the typical soba restaurant experience, turning it from an individual to a fun, relaxed group setting.
 
First up the soba here is made...

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JAPAN TRAVEL
Originally home of hidden Christians, wild deer now roam the place
Nozaki Island is part of Ojika town (Nagasaki Prefecture), which consists of 17 islands, with the main island bearing the name of the town. It is a rather small island in the Saikai National Park, with very high mount...

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