October 1st is a great day to be in Tokyo. The city celebrates Tokyo Citizens’ Day by opening up numerous attractions to the public for free. If you’ve always wanted to see the capital’s best museums, zoos, aquariums and gardens, now’s your chance to do it for no charge. Continue reading
A friend of a friend recently contacted me and mentioned she was coming to Japan. She had never been before and wanted to know “What can I expect?” Life has been busy but i wanted to honor her request so I sat down and quickly typed out the following thoughts. It’s based mostly on my … Continue reading
As Japan welcomes spring with flowers and festivals, a whole range of benefits for travelers also seem to be cropping up. I know I usually mention travel developments in a post at the beginning of the year, but as Japan gears up for the Olympics in a few years, things seem to be moving a … Continue reading
Every year we flip on the calendar means just that much closer to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. While the games have had some notable hiccups in these early planning stages (still no stadium OR logo …), the steps the country is taking to spruce itself up for the massive international event will … Continue reading
Ack, it’s mid-November! I swear, we just celebrated Halloween yesterday, right? Right ….? I’d meant to post this about a month ago, but for those of you in the Kansai and Tokyo regions, you’ll still find some of the information relevant. I’ve just done my first leaf-peeping here in Tokyo (Showa Kinen park is a … Continue reading
A bit of a monetary snafu this past summer while traveling is prompting me to write this post. Many of you may already know that Japan’s banking system is quite unique, but the details aren’t terribly important. What’s important is knowing how to withdraw money while traveling in Japan and I hope the following tips … Continue reading
The other week, I flew to Tokyo to begin the house hunting process for our move to the capital this summer. We had booked tickets on Jetstar, the Australia-based budget airline that has been making serious inroads into the Japanese domestic market and flew from Kumamoto into Narita Airport. Little did we know that we … Continue reading
