On a beautiful Saturday morning in November, I went with two of my close friends and boarded the Shinkansen heading for Hiroshima. We had quite an ambitious plan: visit Hiroshima Peace Park and Memorial Museum, roam around Miyajima and then finish off the day playing with bunnies on Okunoshima. I have to admit that we…
This article comes from former Awaji island ALT Stephen Harmon’s blog A Walk in Japan. Having spent a year exploring all that the island has to offer, Stephen is the perfect man to tell us how to use this year’s Skills Development Conference on Awaji as an excuse for an unforgettable, fun-filled weekend trip on…
This article is brought to you through a partnership with the Heart of Japan blog, a project by the Hyogo International Association. Having defeated a renowned swordsman in a decisive battle at the age of 13 in the early Edo Period (somewhere between 1584 and 1645 according to legend), the fame of masterless-samurai, or rounin,…
In the whirlwind that was the first few months of living in Japan, I was lucky enough to have two second year JETs to hold my hand. They showed our ragtag crew around the area and together we went to a Hanshin baseball game, a tour of Kobe, and even to Hikone castle. On one…
今熊野観音寺 (15) and é©å ‚ (19) This month we have another Kyoto double feature! Temples 15 and 19 of the 33 temple pilgrimage are Imakumano Kannon-ji and Kodo. First up is Imakumano Kannon-ji, which literally means “present-day Kumano Kannon temple†and it has strong connections to temple 1 (Seiganto-ji), located in Wakayama in the area…
 At the start of February I dragged my hands from under the kotatsu just long enough to click ‘buy’ on flights to Okinawa as a congratulations to myself for surviving my first Japanese January. I have just returned from said weekend bringing the sun with me (you’re welcome) and thought it only fair to…
It’s April and that means the brief, but beautiful cherry blossom season. The sales of blue tarpaulins are set to sky rocket and public intoxication in the middle of the day will reach giddy new heights. Whether it’s your first, final or other, 花見 season in Japan, Hyogo has a positive cornucopia of great spots…
Arima is a beautiful and quaint little mountainside town located behind Mt. Rokko. Only being a stone’s throw from Osaka and Kobe, it is a hidden oasis for Japanese people wanting to get away for a quiet, relaxing weekend. It’s an insolated place tucked away in the luminous landscape of the great outdoors and is…
Japan’s as quirky as a Seinfeld character. Its oddities, for me, are what make it such a fun place to live.