Sand, sea and stars on idyllic Akajima

by Hillel Wright

Back in 1972 when I first lived on Denman Island in the Georgia Strait of British Columbia between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, I was one of about 300 residents. By the time I left 25 years later for Japan, its population had just topped 1,000, and each year sees a ...

Historic garden hidden in Italy

Jun 3, 2013

Historic garden hidden in Italy

Rare plants, enchanting ruins and the tinkle of waterfalls: The English-style botanical oasis of Ninfa near Rome is a secret idyll billed as “the world’s most romantic garden.” The exquisite garden dates back to the late 19th century when the aristocratic Caetani family took ...

Searching for Mount Fuji

Jun 2, 2013

Searching for Mount Fuji

by Winifred Bird

Japan is full of good place names. Who can resist Utsukushigahara (Beautiful Field) in Nagano Prefecture, Ginza (Golden Seat) in Tokyo or the sad irony of Fukushima — Isle of Good Fortune?

Wisteria wanderings in Kameido

| May 26, 2013

Wisteria wanderings in Kameido

by Kit Nagamura

Each year, I tell myself I have to make time to enjoy the famed trellises of wisteria blossoms at Kameido Tenjin in Tokyo’s eastern Koto Ward. Then, I blow it. This year, I enlist my mother-in-law, who’s savvy about such things, to get the ...

Taking it easy on stroll-size Omi-jima

May 19, 2013

Taking it easy on stroll-size Omi-jima

by Stephen Mansfield

Mr. Hirohisa had made it clear when I called him from the nearest mainland city to the island — Nagato in western Honshu's Yamaguchi Prefecture — that there would be no supper provided that night; nor would he be able to pick me up ...

On the trail of ninja in Iga's shadowy past

May 12, 2013

On the trail of ninja in Iga's shadowy past

by Mandy Bartok

The bright-pink ninja-emblazoned train isn’t exactly the epitome of stealth as it cuts through the forested hills and rice paddies of Mie Prefecture. Neither are visitors’ pint-size offspring who race excitedly up the paths of Ueno Park in the city of Iga shrieking their ...