Forget the Olympic sheen, keirin is a gritty gambler's sport
Fast and physical, keirin is Japan's premier cycling competition. It's Olympic debut was at the 2000 Sydney Games, but the real action (and real money) takes place at Japan's 43 velodromes.
Boat racing: Endearingly rubbish and genuinely dramatic
Kyōtei (boat racing) is a kind of slow, aquatic NASCAR that also happens to be one of the few things that you can legally gamble on in Japan.
A weekend in Nagasaki: Diverse, vibrant and a haven for history buffs
Nagasaki's long exposure to religion, architecture and cuisine from China and the West makes it veritable cultural melting pot that's well-worth a weekend excursion.
Winding back the years in Yokohama’s Yamate district
One of Japan's "100 Cityscapes," Yokohama's Yamate district — also known as "The Bluff" — preserves some of the city's elegant European structures and international heritage.
More zany than Zen: Kyoto hotels paving the way to 2020
Tired of always staying at the same minimalist hotel? Inject some levity into your Kyoto trip by booking a room at one of these avant-garde boutique hotels instead.
Why Kamakura is bigger than its Buddha
Ruthlessly passed over by UNESCO, Kamakura's charm lies in the quotidian — and it's a perfect day or weekend trip from Tokyo.
Gujo-Hachiman: Travel along the rivers of time
Perhaps it is the gurgling brooks that feed the town's roadside culverts, the colorful, vaguely Pyrenean window boxes, or the friendly, natural disposition of the locals — Gujo-Hachiman seems a place where people's spirits are pitched a notch or two higher than elsewhere.
Bathing in the French culture of Tokyo's Kagurazaka district
"To err is human. To loaf is Parisian," said the French writer Victor Hugo. Although seasoned in erring and loafing, I cannot attest that he nailed Paris. But loafing is tres a la mode in Kagurazaka, a shopping and dining area in Tokyo's Shinjuku ...
The 'washi' paper trail: from the tree to its many purposes
Stepping off the bus at the Gakko-iriguchi stop in Higashi-Chichibu Village in Saitama Prefecture, the first things to strike the eye are high-flying clusters of balloons, suspended like colorful dirigibles. Here, the workshops and exhibition spaces of Washi-no-Sato, a well-known papermaking center tucked into the ...
If sushi, sakura cherry blossoms and Mt. Fuji are representative icons of Japan, ninja should probably be in the same category, as movies and anime inspired by the athletically gifted Japanese spies have garnered quite a bit of popularity around the world, serving as ...
Nagoya Castle is undoubtedly the pinnacle of pride for the citizens of the city of Nagoya. The castle was originally built on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun, in the early 17th century. It was to be a critical stronghold for invading ...
Ama, or female divers, make their living diving to the bottom of the sea in search of seaweed and shellfish such as abalone and clams. They now exist only in limited areas; Mie, Iwate and Ishikawa and other prefectures. The cities of Shima and ...
