The Unique Restaurant on Wild Boar Mountain
A thirty minute hike from Ashiyagawa Station (Hankyu), tucked away on Mount Rokko in Ashiya is the unique Takinochaya restaurant. Ashiya is in Hyogo Prefecture in Honshu. My wife…
Articles
Riding The Nagasaki Electric Tramway
The Nagasaki Electric Tramway The Nagasaki Electric Tramway is a private tram (streetcar) system running on public streets in Nagasaki, on the island of Kyushu. I don’t know about you,…
UPDATED! How to Explore Japan With The 2019 Rugby World Cup
This year the Rugby World Cup comes to Japan. With matches taking place in no less than 12 cities across 3 of Japan’s islands it’s a great way of…
A Winter’s Day Walk In Ashiya
It’s a beautiful winter’s morning. Ideal for a walk in Ashiya City – our home in Hyogo Prefecture in Japan. A walk in Ashiya I know many people love…
Architecture Night Walk: Fukushima Ward to Osaka Station
Osaka is blessed with countless buildings worth investigating if you’re interested in architecture. Its streets also have a special atmosphere at night. So I thought I’d make a film incorporating…
Candeo Hotels Osaka Namba
Review: Candeo Hotels Osaka Namba – Rooftop Sky Spa In keeping with our taste for a bit of luxury (without having to pay ridiculous luxury prices!), we singled out…
Visiting A Shinto Shrine on New Year’s Eve
Visiting A Shinto Shrine on New Year’s Eve Hatsumōde is the first Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year (starting on 1st January). Although most people visit on the…
Exploring Osaka Station City: Plazas
Exploring Osaka Station City: Plazas This is the first in a series of film-based articles about Osaka Station City. It focuses on the plazas within the complex. Osaka Station City…
Kobe Luminarie Light Festival
Kobe Luminarie is an annual light festival held in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, every December since 1995. It commemorates the Great Hanshin earthquake of that year. This stunning, multicoloured display attracts…
5 Days In Kyushu – Itinerary
Thinking of visiting Kyushu? Here’s my 5-day itinerary – a whistlestop tour of a few highlights of Kyushu, including recommendations for sights, restaurants and hotels for each day, with photos….
Kyoto Journal: Celebrating Japanese Culture
Founded in 1986 by editor and designer John Einarsen, Kyoto Journal has been creating a record of and celebrating Japanese and Asian culture for the past 30 years. That in…
Lunch, Sweets, Coffee and Naramachi (Nara)
Naramachi is the former traditional merchant’s quarter in Nara – the old capital of Japan. Spending time, slowly walking around its narrow streets is evocative, like stepping back in time….
The Unpredictability of Japanese Architecture
The Unpredictability of (Modern) Japanese Architecture Designer and TV presenter Kevin McCloud once said that Japanese architecture and urban planning in Japan was just about the ugliest he’d ever seen….
Stardust Vegan Cafe & Boutique, Kyoto
Most people come to bustling Kyoto for the incredible wealth of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, and perhaps the hope of catching a Geisha or two walking elegantly in their…
A Secret Tour of Tokyo National Museum
Noh Mask, Edo period, 18th Century The very first time I went to Japan it was mainly for leisure, but also partly for business. I was working in intellectual…