There are many versions of Shibuya. There is one that you see in tourist guides of crowded streets, and another that’s less photographed: for every 10,000 photos of the Shibuya’s famous scramble there are only a handful showing someone walking empty streets. I remember the first time I exited Shibuya ...
Somehow I convinced my husband that the fifth wedding anniversary is the Tahitian anniversary. The traditional gift, actually, is wood. For years, I had dreamed of going to Bora Bora in French Polynesia. The lagoon’s glimmering turquoise, jade and cobalt blue waters, the overwater ...
Sipping Champagne in the night sky Through Dec. 25, the Hotel Century Southern Tower is offering a Champagne and Original Cocktail fair at its South Court bar and lounge, which boasts views of the Tokyo skyline from 100 meters above the ground. For a ...
On March 11, 2011, the residents of Fukushima Prefecture felt the earth shake as a massive quake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan. But few could have predicted the explosions that would later follow or that the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 ...
Rain is pelting the black bulk of Edinburgh Castle brooding over the city, but inside Fingers Piano Bar on Frederick Street, it’s warm and dry as I dance with a throng of cheerful Scots, all of us lustily belting out the chorus of “Sweet ...
The Hyatt Regency Tokyo is offering seven varieties of the hotel’s original Christmas cakes that have always captured the hearts of many. The new creation for 2016 by Koichi Sato, the pastry and bakery chef, is the 40 cm-high Christmas tree (¥17,000 for one ...
In Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1980 film “Kagemusha” (“Shadow Warrior”), the 16th-century daimyo Takeda Shingen is mortally wounded by a sniper after being lured by the sound of a flute during a castle siege. Takeda’s clan know that rival warlords Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu ...
I’ve always wanted to have a mini-reunion in Nashville with my college girlfriends. I imagined hanging out at honky-tonk bars like the famous Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, listening to country music and meandering along Music Row. Instead, I found myself in Tennessee’s capital city with ...
Italian food in the spotlight The Imperial Hotel is holding “Festa Italiana” through Nov. 30 at four of its eateries to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Japan establishing formal diplomatic ties with Italy. The event is being celebrated at The Imperial Viking Sal, The ...
Hoping to catch the earliest blush of autumnal colors, I seek out the Important Cultural Property of Gokokuji, a prominent temple located in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward. A satellite map shows it embraced by a forest of trees. I suspect a cemetery might lurk below ...
Swaying in a hammock hung from coconut trees, floating down a cyan-blue channel or swimming in a cloud of tropical fish, all I could think was, this place is too perfect to be real. Aitutaki consists of a handful of small islands encircled by ...
Picture your workday, and then your week. Imagine the discomfort of the morning train or the slow crawl of traffic. Think about your place of work. There’s no getting around it: Most of us spend huge swaths of time in offices and workshops, on ...
Black is the new black Paying tribute to the everlasting allure associated with the color black, Aman Tokyo is offering “The Black Bar” menu that includes free-flowing cocktails and appetizers at The Lounge by Aman on the 33rd floor overlooking the Imperial Palace Gardens. ...
