Discoveries from around the archipelago
It's taken me awhile to get around to this post and not just because I was waiting until I returned from my latest trip to Japan. If you've ever gone through reverse culture shock, you know it can be rather insidious. Things feel overwhelming, then they settle down, then they overwhelm you, and the roller... Continue Reading →
When I picked up last month's Review selection (K is for Kabuki), I also grabbed another book called Real Samurai. This nonfiction book is written by Stephen Turnbull, a noted military historian. I haven't reviewed many samurai books so I thought I'd take it home and give it a go. Confession time - I find... Continue Reading →
It's foliage season, my favorite time of year, and I am stuck in 87*F southern California. Not that palm trees aren't pretty mind you ... 😉 I'm just very excited to head back to Japan in two weeks to catch the autumn leaves in their splendor. (I'm hoping at least. It's been a bit colder... Continue Reading →
November is my favorite month in Japan. For much of the low-lying areas of the nation (and a few mountainous areas that have yet to turn), November is foliage month. Autumn in Japan is unlike anywhere else in the world. In my home state of Pennsylvania, our neighboring mountains turned mottled hues of rust, gold and... Continue Reading →
I had hoped to get this list up at the beginning of the week, but our hot water heater died (and flooded part of our garage in the process) and that took priority at the beginning of the month. How I wish there was an onsen or sento right down the street, like in Japan! Hopefully,... Continue Reading →
Back in my university years, one of my roommates convinced me one summer that we should enroll in a yoga class. At that time, yoga was not the massive lifestyle craze that it's since become and I'd never personally taken the plunge. Our instructor was a 6 foot tall man with a soothing voice and... Continue Reading →
I've mentioned it before, but libraries are one of my favorite places. So of course, one of the first places I went in southern California was the library closest to my house. Sticking out at the end of one o the shelves was a title I had never actually come across before - Yuki and the... Continue Reading →
While the Uncover Japan blog has only been around for about 4 years, August 2nd marked my eight year anniversary in Japan. Yup, we arrived on that date in 2008 to begin an adventure in what was then the great unknown. That date is now book-ended by another one - August 4th, 2016. THAT, dear... Continue Reading →
If you follow the Uncover Japan facebook page at all, you may have seen that this past weekend, I returned to Kumamoto for the first trip since the earthquake. Our time there in late March and early April was wonderful, filled with visits to friends' homes, trips to Kurokawa Onsen (my favorite place in Japan)... Continue Reading →
Oh, summertime. You have arrived with a vengeance. My plans for the week include leaving the comfort of my air-conditioned apartment purely to seek out chilled noodles (hiyashi) and shaved ice (kakigori) before returning once more to the bearable temperature of my apartment. This, of course, is a good thing for all of you readers out there,... Continue Reading →
