Kyoto. I know it’s on everyone’s list; it’s still, and always will be, on mine. I feel like I can get to Kyoto and not look at a map, though I admit the names of the neighbourhoods, temples and shrines elude me until I am in front of them (I’m terrible with remembering place names.) […]
Author: Aga
Takayama & Kamikochi
When I lived in Japan, I took all my visitors to Takayama to see the contrast between the modern and busy Japan, and its quieter side. Mostly, I return so often because I love taking the Wide View Hida Express train, which hugs the Hida River and traverses through mountains. I’ve done this train ride […]
Sendai’s Tanabata Matsuri
I’ve been to Sendai once before, in the winter; Sendai in winter is nothing like Sendai in the summer when the city is celebrating the Tanabata Festival. The city is decorated in long paper streamers that are hung all over town and burst with colour. Hundreds of them are draped along ropes that are hanging […]
Tranquil Yamadera
Before I get to Sendai, I detour to Yamadera and walk up to the Risshakuji Temple. There are hardly any people here. I love these moments where even in a country as densely populated as Japan, I easily myself nearly alone. The air is light and fresh: another bonus to having an exciting metropolis so […]
Yokohama
When in Tokyo, I hop on the train to spend a few hours in Yokohama. Yokohama is lovely, and I usually take a short walk around the harbour, visit China Town, and have some delicious food in a local restaurant, but I don’t recall much else about the city, because my memories of Yokohama are […]
Tokyo, Part 2
I have so many memories of Tokyo, I don’t know where to start. How do I filter what’s important and fun, and which memory is just a sweet piece of nostalgia, but meaningless information to someone else? Even though on my most recent trip I spend a week in Tokyo, it doesn’t feel like long […]
Tokyo, Part 1
I’ve never spent much time in Tokyo during the summer months. Because of school holidays, it was the time that I, too, would take my holidays and travel to other Asian countries to enjoy their summer humidity. So, the summer of 2019 is my first time properly enjoying Tokyo in August. I’m staying in Asakusa, […]
Japan
I started writing the following posts in 2020, about the summer of 2019, the beginning of spring in 2015, and two sweet years between 2005 and 2007. It’s now 2023 and I’m on a mission to write a little about Japan before the next summer adventure. *** Work from home, chores, online school. 2020. Though […]