Tag - japan-travel

 
 

JAPAN TRAVEL

The 2024 grand prix winner was Zerogravity, a marine activity provider with a focus on accessible tours and accommodation.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2024
Japan Travel Awards promote inclusive tourism
While currently far from a global player, the Japan Travel Awards is filling a void for recommendations on forward-looking travel-centric organizations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 6, 2020
Photo essay: Kyoto without tourists
It is rare to see Kyoto's most popular tourist spots with so few people, but due to COVID-19, the number of visitors to Japan, and to Kyoto, has plunged to record low levels, leaving many of sightseeing destinations deserted.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 7, 2020
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 7, 2020
Boat racing: Endearingly rubbish and genuinely dramatic
Kyu014dtei (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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / A Weekend In
Dec 21, 2019
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 14, 2019
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 30, 2019
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 20, 2019
Why Kamakura is bigger than its Buddha
Kamakura, capital of Japan's first shogunate (1185-1333), once angled for a UNESCO-shaped stamp of approval. Under the title "Kamakura, Home of the Samurai" there were a number of landmarks included in the proposal. It was roundly rejected by UNESCO in 2013, who concluded that "tangible testimonies of the places of shogunal power, other than the temples, are few in number and are often rather inexplicit.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2019
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 4, 2017
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 Ward that is famed for its touch of French culture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 7, 2017
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.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / G7 Ise-Shima Summit Special
May 25, 2016
Discover the clandestine world of the ninja
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 the basis for such characters as Naruto and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / G7 Ise-Shima Summit Special
May 25, 2016
Nagoya Castle's Honmaru Palace set to reopen June 1
Nagoya Castle is undoubtedly the pinnacle of pride for the citizens of the city of Nagoya.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / G7 Ise-Shima Summit Special
May 25, 2016
'Ama' divers preserve fishing tradition in Mie Prefecture
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 Toba in Mie Prefecture have the largest number of ama in the country. Approximately 1,000 ama are active in those cities, and it is estimated that they represent about half of all ama in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / G7 Ise-Shima Summit Special
May 25, 2016
City's attractions lure recreational and business travelers
Nagoya is home to many attractions, including the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens and many parks. With Legoland set to open next year and the Linear Central Shinkansen planned for operation in fiscal 2027, Nagoya is expected to grow further as a hub for both tourists and businesspeople.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 23, 2016
Tokyo hotel gets into bed with local artists
When building a new hotel, designers would normally consider the artwork displayed on the walls as a finishing touch. But for BnA Hotel Koenji, which just opened in Tokyo's Koenji neighborhood, the artwork definitely comes first.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 9, 2016
Exploring Tabaruzaka's idyllic but forgotten samurai battleground
The gray spring clouds have given way to a gentle drizzle by the time I pull my car into a spacious parking lot bordering the Tabaruzaka battlefield. It's fitting weather, considering the massive battle that took place here in 1877 in this rural corner north of Kumamoto city was fought in similar conditions. Yet despite the 17-day conflict racking up enough casualties to mark it as one of the country's most noted battles, Tabaruzaka sits all but forgotten in its idyllic rural setting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 9, 2016
Saga touts unknown attractions in tourist drive
Saga Prefecture has long ranked low among domestic tourist destinations in Japan, but local officials and residents believe this is all down to a bad rap that is quite unearned.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 19, 2016
Battle of Sekigahara: a war set in stone
The open valley basins of Gifu Prefecture at the very center of Honshu, where the town of Sekigahara lies, were easily co-opted as theaters of war. It's no coincidence, given the martial history of the region, that the town of Seki was once known as the premier sword-making spot in the country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 12, 2016
Nagoya's big names, trains and automobiles
Mount Fuji whizzes by as I drive the Tokaido N700 series shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya. "Don't let the speed go above 270 kilometers per hour," warns Kaori Takagi. I heed the warning, though Takagi is not a shinkansen driver instructor. We are, in fact, in the simulator at the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park in Nagoya, where she is museum curator.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on