Sharing favorite finds from across the archipelago
Sakura season is upon us! While the somei yoshino are still just budding, the internet has been full of other cherry blossom flowers the past few weeks. So how does one tell just what kind of cherry tree they're enjoying? Use the handy guide below to help identify the various blossoms. Kawazuzakura Kawazuzakura One of... Continue Reading →
Autumn is here, and it's the season where I throw caution - and commitments - to the wind and spend my time galivanting around Japan in search of the perfect fall foliage. Yes, it's an addiction. But knowing is half the battle, right? 😉 A few years ago, I wrote about my favorite lesser-known Tokyo... Continue Reading →
Here we are, entering the month of June ... and while the rain seems to be absent on the horizon this week, the sixth month of the calendar traditionally marks the start of tsuyu, or rainy season. Sure, it's a time of humidity and hair frizz (or hair flatness, if you're me), but a highlight... Continue Reading →
I can't believe I've never profiled the Nezu Shrine's azalea garden on this site before. For those of you ever in Tokyo in springtime, this is a place that needs to be on your radar. The Nezu Shrine is a beautiful complex that has stood in this quiet neighborhood since 1705. Surprisingly for Tokyo, a... Continue Reading →
Happy spring! I know we technically have a few days left to winter, according to the calendar, but nobody's fooled here in Tokyo. The weather has been in the 60s (that's Fahrenheit, y'all - I'm still unapologetically American in my temperature scale) and the first cherry blossoms of the season were recorded to have opened... Continue Reading →
On the afternoon of March 11th, 2011, a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Tohoku in northern Japan. I was sitting at home in Okinawa, my newborn daughter sleeping nearby, when my husband called from somewhere in Southeast Asia. A bird's eye view of the destruction from the tsunami “I can’t talk. We have... Continue Reading →
It's been a long dull year on the festival front here in Japan. Much has been cancelled due to Covid, and understandably so. But part of what makes Japan's calendar so colorful are the fantastic festivals across the island. This year, we've gotten barely a whisper of the usual enthusiasm. For some reason, Jindaiji temple... Continue Reading →
It's been a year, hasn't it? And I mean that in all senses of the word. It's indeed been a year - longer, I admit - since I last posted on the Uncover Japan blog. But it's also been a year of ... disruption. And uncertainty. And endurance. And survival. And if we're being truly... Continue Reading →
Happy 2020, blog readers … if there are indeed any of you left out there. 😉 It's true, I spend more of my time "microblogging" these days - I'm much more active on the Uncover Japan facebook page and I've even started Instagramming. I certainly neglect this blog much more than I write on it,... Continue Reading →
I concede that I initially thought I might not be the best person to give an honest review of a book on alcohol. Not being much of a drinker, I generally shy away from any kind of liquor. Sure, I've tasted a variety of what's on offer here in Japan (and admit to a fondness... Continue Reading →
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