Travel Blog
As I drive to my destination, powder that we can normally only dream of is piling higher on the tall walls of snow lining the side of the road… welcome to one of the more isolated places in Japan and join me for a ski trip in Hakkoda, Northern Honshu. It was several years that […]
Our third day in the Japanese capital was the kid’s day focused on a trip to Odaiba, which we knew well but from our childless days. Odaiba is a zone reclaimed from the sea and dominated by malls and parks Japanese-style. Before this visit, we had already visited Odaiba’s fake french village, and witnessed a marriage […]
Sunday was forecast as a day in the nature. When we lived in Tokyo we often jumped on a train on the weekends so that we could get out into the countryside, be by the seaside or in the mountains to enjoy the different seasons. However, during my “rediscovering Japan through new eyes ” research […]
After living 7 in Tokyo (10 years for Kiwi) and 3 years after having quit Japan, we finally returned for a long weekend. I love to read the impressions of travelers to Japan, who describe unique aspects of Japan or the Japanese that I used to experienced every day, and I was wondering how we would feel to […]
Today, Voyagista reveals her secret on where we can meet the Japanese Imperial Family … For those not familiar with the Japanese Imperial family: today the Emperor has no political power and fills a symbolic role in Japanese society (as it has done at other times in Japan’s history). The Emperor is no longer regarded […]
What is a tori? The tori is a traditional and spiritual Japanese gate. [Wikipedia definition] Fushimi Inari is THE temple of toriis in Japan. The red gates are everywhere in the temple grounds – there are alleys of toriis, gatherings of toriis, solitary toriis and so on. Fushimi Inari is also a temple that is […]
There is a Japanese Proverb that goes something like this… A wise man climbs Mount Fuji once, a fool climbs it twice. At the moment, I belong to the first category… I climbed Fuji overnight to see the sunrise from the top of Japan, something you shouldn’t miss when you live in the country of the […]
Japan, unlike the image of flat urban sprawl that most people have, is a very rugged country with 73% of the country covered by mostly uninhabited mountains. Most people know Japan’s most famous and tallest mountain, Mount Fuji, but a lot less can name the second tallest moutain in Japan: Kita dake – it’s 3,193 meters tall and […]
Let’s start the day having brunch in Omotesando or going for a picnic in Yoyogi park. Afterwards we head towards Meiji Shrine. Enjoy the serene atmosphere of the most beautiful shrine in Tokyo as the rest of the day is not going to be as quiet… after leaving Meiji to go and see the Dancing […]
A visit to Kokedera is not straightforward: advance registration is required, you need to visit at a set time, access is not very convenient, and there is a relatively expensive entrance fee … but this is a special Kyoto experience. Once you jump the preliminary hurdles there is still one more test to pass before […]
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