Featured journal entries

Despite knowing I wanted to come back to Okinawa, I couldn't muster the executive function to pull the trigger on tickets until about 10 days prior to the trip. The years of isolation and stagnancy had left me timid and afraid of commitment, so I had to shore up my courage and bite the bullet. I...

When I knew I was coming to Okinawa, I got in touch with a yo-yo friend I met during my last visit. A 2A (looping) player, Chika is a super nice guy who is a driving force behind Okinawa's yo-yo scene. The timing is perfect, he told me, as he had just returned to Okinawa from living in Tokyo for...

I woke up to a beautiful view of seaside cliffs from my third floor room, and packed up my things to hit the road. Since I was so close, I had to detour to Manzamo, thus named by King Shokei who said it looked like it could easily seat 10,000 people. The area surrounding the cliff is now a...

I crawled out of my cubby hole when I could no longer ignore the spear of light stabbing through the window, and stuffed my personal effects back into my bags. I retrieved my bike from the lobby and hit the road. The night before, I asked the sushi chef if he had any recommendations for 絶景...

I awoke with a growing frog in my throat; the nights with only air conditioners to keep my cool had taken its toll on my airways, worsening a mild but persistent cough that I'm especially self-conscious about considering the recent uptick in covid cases. I've actually seen a remarkable number of...

I had a fairly restless night as the events of the previous day ran through my head. When did I last have my passport for sure? When else did I pull out my passport pouch, is it possible that it fell out of the pouch... or if I dropped it... or did I just forget to get it back after checking in...

Local sights and landmarks: Kuji Entōbunsui (久地円筒分水, "Kuji Cylindrical Water Diversion") The Kuji Entōbunsui is located in Takatsu Ward, Kawasaki. It is a diversion trough constructed to divide the water of Nigaryō Canal (二ヶ領用水) to several formerly agricultural areas further downstream. It is...

Initially, a few islets in Tokyo Bay that housed artillery batteries to defend Edo, Odaiba (お台場) is an artificial island shared by the Tōkyō wards of Kōtō, Minato, and Shinagawa. It was expanded in the 1990s and was devised as a seaport district with industrial facilities, residential and...

Kure, known for its port, shipbuilding industry, and naval base, is particularly famous for its association with Japan's mightiest battleship, the Yamato. Located in southwestern Hiroshima Prefecture, the city has an excellent natural harbour serving as Japan's second-largest naval port to this...

Exploring the right banks of the Tama River upstream of Hamura, I happened to pass Entakuzan Hōkōji, a temple of the Sōtō School of Buddhism dating to the 15th century, famous for one of Japan's recent Great Buddha statues, that of Rokiya Daibutsu (鹿野大仏), an 18-metre tall bronze cast in Yamagata...

Kanazawa Hakkei (金沢八景) is an area in Kanazawa-ku (southern Yokohama) that attained fame through its woodblock print depictions by Hiroshige and other ukiyo-e artists. Kanazawa Hakkei refers to a series of eight scenic views that immortalise the breathtaking landscape and picturesque coast around...

Ippoin Temple is another gem I found while cycling around Hamura. It was founded in 1424 by Mita Utanosuke Taira no Masasada (三田雅楽之助平将定等), whose grave lies nearby, in the vicinity of Aso Bicycle Shrine. Ippoin Temple (一峰院), officially known as Ryūshuzan Ippoin (龍珠山一峰院), belongs to the...

Inspired by Uehara-san's excellent article on Tsukui Castle, we decided to explore Tsukuiko Shiroyama Park (津久井湖城山公園) in Sagamihara. The hill on which the scarce remnants of Tsukui Castle rest lies in a scenic valley bordering Tsukuiko (津久井湖), an artificial lake created by Shiroyama Dam on the...

This is Meguro River Illumination called Megurogawa Minna no Illumination (目黒川みんなのイルミネーション) with lights on the sakura trees. The closest stations are Ōsaki Station and Gontanda Station on the Yamanote Line. It's about a six-minute walk from Ōsaki Station, which is the one I used...

If you happen to be near Hamura or ever cycle the Tama upstream, take a short stop at the Hamura Weir (羽村堰 Hamura zeki), an interesting place in the local history of Edo, modern-day Tōkyō. The weir marks the historic spot where the Tamagawa Aqueduct (玉川上水 Tamagawa Jōsui) starts. The...

My car and my bike are already on their long way back home, so I can only reach my last destinations in Japan by public transportation. Yesterday, I visited a beautiful place in eastern Osaka Prefecture, Hoshi no Buranko (星のブランコ) suspension bridge in Hoshida Prefectural Park. It is one of the...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Days 8: Hill of the Buddha, Hakusen no taki On the day of my departure, I had the rental car for a few more hours. I decided to visit Rarumanai Natural Park in Eniwa (恵庭市), south of Sapporo. Eniwa Gorge is an 18-kilometer long valley with three scenic waterfalls along...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Days 6, 7: Niseko and Noboribetsu On days 6 and 7 I explored the area southwest of Sapporo. The weather was significantly cooler and wetter. I stopped over in Niseko (ニセコ), a famous ski resort around Yōtei-zan (羊蹄山), a volcano in the Shikotsu-Tōya National Park. Of course...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Day 5: Nemuro Peninsula Day 5 was a journey from one peninsula (Shiretoko) to the next (Nemuro), then to the volcanic lakes in the center of Hokkaido, and unfortunately, a detour back to Asahigawa where I had forgotten my cellphone recharger. Nemuro Peninsula (根室半島) is on...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Day 3: the North 500 kilometers around the northern cape. Hard to believe that this is Japan. Almost no cars, no people. A shot of the coastline along the northwestern shore, Teshio District: Cape Sōya (宗谷岬) in Wakkanai is the northernmost point of Hokkaido. Many...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Day 2: around Furano On the second day, I was exploring the area around Furano (富良野). Being a fan of Tadao Ando, I visited the Chapel on the Water, a wedding chapel located on the grounds of the Hoshino Resorts Tomamu. The next destination was the famous Blue Pond (青い池...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Day 1/02 Moerenuma Park (in Japanese: モエレ沼公園 Moerenuma Kōen) is a municipal park in Sapporo conceived as 'one complete sculpture' built on garbage reclaimed land. It was designed by the Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi and opened in 2005. Hidamari Glass...

Hokkaido Trip 2020 - Day 1/01 The Hill of Buddha (in Japanese: 頭大仏 Atama Daibutsu) is a Buddhist monument created by the renowned Japanese architect Andō Tadao (安藤 忠雄, ~ 13 Sep 1941) located at Makomanai Takino Cemetery (真駒内滝野霊園) in Sapporo, Hokkaido. The Buddha statue is 13.5 meters tall and...

Yesterday, we decided to veer off our usual bicycle heatmaps in Kanagawa and head up to Lake Tama (多摩湖 Tamako) located at the prefectural border to Saitama. Tamako and Sayamako are two artificial lakes that serve as freshwater reservoirs for Tokyo and environs. They are also popular resorts, not...

Yesterday, @Maciamo and I met up on Ginza to revisit the Marunouchi District. Both of us hadn't been there in many years. It is quite amazing how many extraordinary places you can see and visit within the radius of just two kilometres! Unfortunately, I had only my iPhone 6 to shoot photos. A...

Myōjin-ga-take (明神ヶ岳) is a wonderful one-day hike in the Hakone region west of Tokyo that covers a distance of roughly 10 kilometres and offers stunning vistas, a venerable temple surrounded by old cedar forests and a friendly onsen resort to regenerate from your hike. Maciamo and I had been...

Almost two weeks ago, @Maciamo and I ventured into the city of Kamakura, south of Tokyo. Kamakura has been the de facto capital of Japan from 1192 to 1333 and the seat of the first shogunate founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo during what has been coined - no surprise here - the Kamakura Period...

This year’s summer trip will bring us from Kanazawa to Shimane and back to Kobe via Ako and Himeji. It’s the first time for me to travel along the western Sea of Japan. My brother and his wife are with us, and we’re excited to explore terra incognita. This blog will present a random collection...

We planned a brief stopover in Amanohashidate, one of the three Scenic Views of Japan, but ended up spending the whole day. Here’s why: Wonderful sights, wonderful food, and a roundtrip by boat. We reached Tottori City around 8 pm.

After a hearty breakfast, we set out for Izumo-taisha (出雲大社), the Izumo Grand Shrine. It is located on the northwestern outskirts of the city and is one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. Though the exact date of its establishment is unknown, it is believed to be the oldest shrine in...

This video was posted a few days ago by SeaWorld San Diego. It shows a Giant Japanese Spider Crab moulting, a procedure that takes up to six hours. The Japanese spider crab (タカアシガニ taka-ashi-gani, "long-legged crab") has the largest leg span of any arthropod, with some specimen reaching 3.8...