Anything related to traveling in Japan
In 2013, located in Cat Street in Harajuku is fashion designer, Marc Jacobs’ “BOOKMARC”. Designed by Stephan Jaklitsch, BOOKMARC sells books specializing in art, music culture and photography. And the concept of the store happened when bookstores began to disappear from the global landscape. Marc Read More …
In America, we think of pancakes as breakfast food and food we make at home early in the morning or go to a place like IHOP or Denny’s breakfast. Typically, we are used to the thin pancakes that we put butter and syrup. But in Read More …
I’m often asked about how safe Japan is but also get asked a few times if there is graffiti and if it’s as bad as how things are in the US? Well, graffiti does exist, but not in the same manner in the US that Read More …
In yesterday’s post, I discussed the Okakura Tenshin Memorial Site in Yanaka and how he started the Japan Art Institute (Nihon Bijutsuin). But not far from the Memorial Site is the Tomb of Kano Hogai, a famouse Japanese painter of the early Meiji era. A Read More …
Okakura Kakuzo (a.k.a. Okakura Tenshin) was a Japanese scholar who is known for the development of arts in Japan. Best known for his book “The Book of Tea”, Okakura was a scholar who learned English while attending a school which was operated by a Christian Read More …
When I was a college student, I surprised everyone in my class when I built a makeshift island. It was a lot of work, took a lot of time but I wanted to create something unique and different. Needless to say, it was heavy and Read More …
For those who are visiting the Meiji Shrine, sometimes you may find flower arrangements to village dioramas that were beautifully decorated. While I don’t know too much on the history of the actual dioramas, I do know that the chrysanthemum exhibition is often held in Read More …
Located in Omotesando (Tokyo) and in Osaka is a specialty shop known as Crayonhouse. Created with children and also the disabled in mind, Keiko Ochiai wanted to create a company that was not male or adult-centered. She wanted a place where children can enjoy and Read More …
Located near Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium is a shrine known as Hatonomorihachiman Shrine. Established in 860 AD, the shrine built and named after the forest originally in the location, was created under the request of the villagers, so a Goshintai (an object worshiped and housed Read More …
For those visiting/shopping at Aoyama/Omotesando (and a second location at Minato Mirai in Yokohama) will no doubt want to check out Anniversaire Cafe. The name meaning “anniversary” in French, the restaurant was established in 1998, the restaurant is known for it’s house-made pastry and their Read More …
Located in Minato Ward and other locations is the Ueshima Coffee Company (UCC), a cafe that was first created in 1933 in Kobe. The owner of the Kona coffee farm in Hawaii, the company was formerly known as Ueshima Tadao Shoten in 1933 and then Read More …
Are you a person who wants variety when you go to a Japanese restaurant? Are you in Tokyo with your family and you have children who are not so open to different types of food? Fortunately, there is Bistro Tigre Bon Bon, a restaurant inside Read More …
Quite often when I speak to people about traveling, especially to Japan, I’m always asked how much one should save. Especial for meals and how can one eat cheap. That is not an easy question as everyone is different and depending on how many weeks Read More …
For those going to Tokyo Dome and are looking for Yomiuri Giants (the popular Tokyo Central League baseball team) gear, you have three options. One is the small official Yomiuri Giants store, the other is the Under Armour Yomiuri Giants store and then you have Read More …
In Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, if there is one name for a shrine that you can find several in Tokyo, it’s Hikawa Shrine. The one I visited is the Hikawa Shrine that is part of the Shigeru Ruins and is often referred to as “The House Read More …
A few people have asked where I stay when I go to Japan, since I stay for a longer duration than most vacationers. I am still not as confident as my other friends who do AirBNB, but they tend to stay for short durations 1-2 Read More …
Located in the Saitama Prefecture in the Central Kanto Region is Kawaguchi Station, a ralway station on the Keihin-Tohoku Line and is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). The Station opened back in September 1910 and has an average of 80,410 passengers daily Read More …