Ask a Japanese person which part of Japan they most associate with writer Lafcadio Hearn and they are likely to instantly respond: Matsue, a seaside town in Shimane Prefecture. Hearn is the man who introduced Japan to the West in the Meiji Period (1868-1912) through books such as “Glimpses of ...
Evolving to better attract ‘MICE’ The Grand Hyatt Tokyo has recently renovated several of its event venues, with an eye toward unifying the second floor with a cohesive residential design while enhancing the banquet facilities on the fourth floor with a new show kitchen ...
There is no hot water in Odairajuku, no gas-powered stoves, no fridges and — most importantly — no internet. The nearest supermarket is an hour away by car, and so is the nearest place to get a signal on your phone. But what this ...
As a chilly dusk fell on this tiny bay famous for wildlife and Jurassic-era fossilized trees, a white-coated figure waddled gingerly across tide-slicked rocks — me, trying to get out of sight to prevent scaring off yellow-eyed penguins I hoped would come ashore. A ...
Chic dining in the heart of the city Conveniently located inside Tokyo Station building and offering guests a welcoming atmosphere, The Lobby Lounge of The Tokyo Station Hotel is offering a new lunch menu from Oct. 1. The Lobby Lounge, a classic contemporary European ...
In the summer of 1867, the American merchant vessel Rover, sailing north from southern China’s Guangdong Province, lost its way during a storm, drifted into waters off the southern coast of Taiwan, struck a reef, and sank. While the captain and crew of the ...
Every once in a while, the Japanese have to remind themselves that they’re Japanese. We feel the need to reconfirm that we are part of a long and enduring traditional culture — one which includes kimono, samurai, ninja, eels on rice, and other weird ...
Fifteen years after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Lower Manhattan has been reborn. The revitalization of the city’s downtown, powered by $30 billion in government and private investment, includes not just the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site, but also two new ...
Course menus to celebrate 10 years To celebrate the 10th anniversary since its opening in Sept. 2006, the visually stunning Cuisine[s] Michel Troisgros, on the first floor of the Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku, is offering limited lunch and dinner courses from Sept. 15 ...
It’s hard playing second fiddle when you used to be first chair. Just ask Nara, Kyoto’s underpraised southern neighbor. In 710, Japan’s seat of power settled in Nara, on the plains of the Yamato Province. While previous centuries had seen the capital move after ...
When Melanija Knavs drove around Ljubljana in a fluffy skirt on a metallic blue Vespa with her boyfriend in the late 1980s, the Slovenian capital was a sleepy town that offered little excitement to rare visitors. Over the past two decades since she left ...
Fine French fare high above the city Tribeks restaurant, located on the 20th floor of the Hotel Century Southern Tower in Shinjuku, is offering a ¥4,000 (tax included) French course lunch menu throughout the year. The menu changes once every two months under supervision ...
The midday sky swirls with typhoon clouds as I set off to explore a little shopping area known as Tabata Ginza in Tokyo’s Kita Ward. I’m thrilled to be in the charismatic company of a third-generation rakugoka (traditional storyteller) who lives nearby. I met ...
