During a recent trip to Hiroshima, I had the opportunity to visit the intriguing island of Miyajima (means “Shrine Island”) located just a short distance by ferry between Iwakuni and Hiroshima in western Honshu. Home to the well known floating Torii gate and the Itsukushima-jinja shrine, this island is considered one of the most captivating places in the country as well as officially one of the most beautiful. So much so that Confucian scholar named Shunsai Hayashi made it official in 1643. Any day or a few days spent on this historical 12 square mile island will be well worth your time.

A simple train ride from Iwakuni brought me to the small town of Miyashimaguchi where I was able to catch the ferry to the island in about ten minutes. While only a quick jaunt... Read More

May 12-13, 2007, Saturday and Sunday, Wakaba Matsuri or New Leaf Festival was held in Sagamihara City.

On Saturday, at 9am, we went to Citizen’s Hall or ‘Shiminkaikan’. As we passed Nishimon Street, I noticed there were people preparing stalls of different kinds such as foods, flowers, toys, etc. When we arrived at Citizen’s Hall, we proceeded to 2nd floor of the building, while my husband was carrying my two paintings. We set up my paintings together with some of my Japanese co-artist. There were many paintings displayed and in other rooms there were photography and colored pencil drawing exhibits. As I looked at my paintings hanging on the wall, I felt delighted because I would become part of the Festival.

On Sunday, we went back to Nishimon Street where... Read More

Many people of the world know what Harajuku is, but why is this part of Tokyo so well known? This part of Tokyo is unlike any other part of Japan. It has a style and a kind of class all of its own. It's known to most as a hang out spot and a place to have fun, but why is this one hang out spot of Japan so hot? Well, Harajuku was mostly made by the outcasts and the odd people, as most Japanese people see them. They make their own fashion and show it off. The streets of Harajuku are like a cat walk for the lolitas and the Japanese gothic crew. They spend hours everyday to come out and show the whole town what they got. Some believe that Harajuku was made to show all of Japan that they were done with the old fashion and ways of Japan. It was seen to some as a way to anger tho... Read More

If memory serves correctly, I believe that Pinocchio's first stop, after trading in his oaken husk for that of a 'real boys', was a little place called Pleasure Island. It was here that Pinocchio got to indulge in all of the most appetizing of vices, those of which that had been previously denied to our wooden hero.

Osaka, as it were, would have made a more than suitable substitution, if the story had been but set a few thousand miles east.

Osaka is universally renowned for it's salt of the earth citizens, almost as much as it is for its Tako Yaki. Osaka is the working class soul of the Kansai region. The city's people are friendly to an almost uncanny degree. The citizens are an almost consummate paradox to the denizens of Toky... Read More

Recently I took advantage of my newfound military spouse benefits and managed to hop a space available flight to Iwakuni on mainland Japan. I was fortunate to obtain a seat on an eight passenger C-12 plane for the 2 hour flight from Okinawa to Iwakuni, located on Honshu Island, the largest of Japan's four main islands. While Iwakuni may not ring a bell for some of you, it is less than a 40 minute train ride to Hiroshima, one of the many historical “must see” cities in Japan. Though Iwakuni has a few wonderful sites ? including the Kintai Bridge, first built by Hiroyoshi Kikawa (third feudal lord of the Kikawa clan) in 1673 - and is near to a number of other historical areas, many of us are all too familiar from history what Hiroshima has endured from its beginning i... Read More

On this day we visited Waseda University, Marina's school. It was a pretty nice place, we went to the international student's building where Marina will spend a lot of her time because she's an International Business major. It pretty much just seemed like a college campus. There were enough Americans on exchange there that Marina won't feel like her life is totally lacking an American feel when she's there, but also a lot of nice college type Japanese people that seem like they're looking to have a good time too. I'm sure she'll have no trouble partying or raising hell around here... there's so much to do so safely in this city that it'd be hard not to go out and rustle up a little bit of trouble for yourself. Anyway, that was Marina's school... nice place.

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I hurriedly left my Nihongo class after it was finished, I didn't even have a chat with my classmates because my husband sent me e-mail that he was already waiting for me outside the building. We would be meeting his former co-worker in Yokohama at 7pm. We took the train to Yokohama station and went inside Sogo Department Store. We were browsing the boutiques and shops and didn't notice the time so we had been late for a few minutes in meeting his former co-worker.

We got on the train again to go to Sakura-gicho station. We met them and had dinner at a restaurant in Landmark Plaza where different kinds of shops and restaurants can be found. After dinner we decided to climb Landmark Tower, the second highest tower in Japan (the highest is Tokyo Tower). Landmark T... Read More

7/9/06
This day was more of a tourist type day. Marina, Yuko, Nori, Lisa and I went to a sort of place that might remind you of the old city in Philadelphia - but way older. This place is a former castle town called Kawagoe or "Little Edo" (Edo being Tokyo's original name) the streets are lined with "kurazukuri" which are big, japanese style warehouse buildings and storefronts. Some of these buildings date back really far. There are a ton of pictures for this place because I couldn't really describe the buildings if I tried. All of them are in traditional Japanese architecture with the layered windows and the Japanese style roofs and stuff. But, pictures are required for a full understanding of what I mean. Seriously, go on google and check this architecture ... Read More

Last year, I witnessed the breathtaking panorama of red and yellow leaves in Kamakura.

From the Odakyu line, we got on Enoden, half-train/half-streetcar line. When we reached Kamakura, we walked down the road to the cemetery where my husband’s relative’s cremated remains were buried. While we were walking I noticed there was a heavy traffic jam at that time and I thought maybe all of them are visitors to Kamakura who would like to witness the beauty of the place. When we crossed a bridge, I happened to see a school of fish under the bridge. They were so colorful that it seemed that they were also following the color of the autumn.

When we got to the cemetery, my husband brought me to the graves of his relatives. He introduced me to them, he lit some incens... Read More

Takaoka City is located a short drive away from Tonami City where I am located and both are in rural Toyama Prefecture. Takaoka City is famous for Urushi, which is Japanese lacquerware and a very old bronze ware industry. The city itself gives subtle hints of the bronze industry with countless statues, lanterns and bells around virtually every corner. Takaoka used to be a Castle town and this is where the local bronze industry has its roots, but the Castle itself was destroyed and no longer exists.

A major supplier to Temples and Shrines all across Japan, Takaoka has one big bronze secret that is a major sightseeing and pilgrimage destination for tourists, locals and the faithful alike.

Takaoka has one of the three biggest Buddha statues in all of Japan, which is prono... Read More

Since my parents brought home an Ukiyoe book one day when I was in my teens back in Australia, I have been in love with this art form. Before coming to Japan I had purchased three back in Australia but they were cheap imitations.

On my recent trip to Tokyo from Tonami City, I stumbled upon a store that specializes in authentic Ukiyoe called Hara Shobo. One thing I love and hate about Japan is you can either find or miss some amazing stores if you don’t keep your eyes peeled every second. Stumbling across Hara Shobo was pure luck and an am glad to share this Ukiyoe Gallery/shop with you.

I have seen many tourist t-shirts with Ukiyoe on them but to me they are very tacky, other products you may have seen are Noren with an Ukiyoe print on it. One Ukiyoe i... Read More

The first sightseeing spot I have visited in Japan is Enoshima Island. I had just arrived a few weeks earlier, when we got out of the house one morning to go to Enoshima Island, we noticed the weather was not cooperating with us. It was cloudy and it seemed it would rain soon. However, we decided to continue our plan. My husband bought two one-day free passes from the Sagamihara Onno Station information office near the entrance.

Enoshima is a small holy island located to the south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Fujisawa at the end of the Odakyuu line that runs from Shinjuku to the centre of Kanagawa Prefecture.

When we arrived at Enoshima, a big sculpture of a female Goddess welcomed us. The goddess of Enoshima, Benten (or Benzaiten), is the only female... Read More

Japanese love to climb mountains because, for them, mountains are holy. My husband has climbed many mountains in Japan, and in other countries. In fact, he climbed one of our popular and risky mountains in the Philippines, a saw-tooth shaped mountain, which is called as Mt. Guiting-guiting with the elevation of 2,058m (6,380 ft).

In contrast, I don’t like climbing mountain, but because of my love to my husband, I couldn't refuse to go with him to climb Mt. Ohyama, a 1,252m-high mountain situated on the border of Isehara, Hadano and Atsugi, a popular sightseeing spot in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

On that morning, we got up early, wore our mountaineering gear, brought my sketching pad and pencil, and went to Isehara Station, Odakyu line. We bought some foods fr... Read More

In the third of January this year, we made an eleventh hour plan to visit Nikko. Some of our friends in Saitama University wanted to experience heavy snow fall but we were already in the last days of our vacation for Christmas and New Year. Since I have amazing memory of almost 5-6 feet thick snow fall in Luxemburg and The Netherlands in the New Year 2003, I didn’t expect anything better than that here in Japan. That is why I bargained for some multipurpose attraction where we could enjoy both the snow and some other natural beauty, and then we decided the place called Nikko to be the best one.

We browsed the internet for the travel plan and the major attractions to visit because our plan was only for a single day; obviously we were bound to avoid many pl... Read More

I understand that after several days of work, we must have time to pamper ourselves. We must refresh ourselves and liven up before another challenging week. We must loosen up to fade away all the stresses that make us weak and unproductive. Go out and look around your surroundings, find green scenery and surely you will find relaxing feelings. You can go to a park near your home.

That is what we did one beautiful Sunday. We went to Miyagase Dam Park in Sagamihara City to chill out. While I was in the car, a few minutes before we reach the park, passing the whirling road, my tears suddenly rushed down my cheeks because of what I was seeing. The mountains covered with different trees were being shown to me from outside the window. I was touched by its beauty and its simplicit... Read More