"No matter what happens / I am in love with Gion. / Even when I sleep, / Beneath my pillow / The waters ripple."

Tokyo Skytree’s Sky Restaurant 634 One of the capital’s newest landmarks, the 634-meter-tall Tokyo Skytree marked its first anniversary in May. Within the world’s tallest broadcasting tower is the Sky Restaurant 634 (musashi) on the Tembo Deck, 345 meters above ground level. With one ...

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 ...

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?

SAS to rebrand classes Scandinavian Airlines, better known as SAS, will change the names of its classes and improve services for one of the classes in June. Economy class will be renamed SAS Go, economy extra class will be SAS Plus and business class ...

Kan Yasuda's art somehow draws in the landscape, and entices in people, so that it is natural to explore the view through his structures and keyholes, to sit awhile atop a sculpture or to pose within their frames.

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 ...

Japanese afternoon tea at Peninsula In line with the hotel’s theme “Enriching Your Life,” the Peninsula Tokyo is holding special promotions relating to food and culture at each of its restaurants, through August. For example, at its continental dining space The Lobby, a special ...

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 ...

Eat your veggies for dessert in buffet The InterContinental Yokohama Grand is collaborating with Toryu, a finalist in the buffet connoisseur competition on the TV show “TV Champion,” to offer a new buffet at the hotel’s lounge, Marine Blue, through June 27. The first ...

Punk aesthetic at Virgin Virgin Atlantic has announced that the latest designer to be turning her hand to their uniforms is Vivienne Westwood. The fiery British designer will be bringing her punk rock aesthetic to the signature Virgin two-piece, in a collaboration that will ...

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 ...