Discoveries from around the archipelago
Not too long after my university years, I lived in France for awhile. While I loved my home in the Dijon region in central-eastern France, I always harbored a not-so-secret desire to head south to Provence to see the famous lavender. I never did make it but - lucky me - I moved to Japan... Continue Reading →
Hokkaido is Japan's final frontier, a vast (VAST) island of mountains, lakes and stretches of emptiness that seem otherworldly in a country so densely populated as this one. It is also the home island of much of Japan's only remaining indigenous culture, the Ainu. Pushed to the far northern reaches by the race that became known... Continue Reading →
Everybody always heads to Hokkaido for the Sapporo Snow Festival in early February. What not many people realize is that the seaside town of Otaru, a short 45 minute train ride away, has an equally interesting winter event. Otaru was once the center of Hokkaido's herring industry, and the town's former wealth is evident in... Continue Reading →
I can only imagine how different Furano must look right now compared to my visit in mid-July. Certainly, with the amount of snow they receive every winter up there in central Hokkaido, I probably wouldn't have been able to take this picture: In truth, I had expected to find something lavender-related on the manhole covers... Continue Reading →
I've spent a lot of the past week or so driving around Kumamoto prefecture to see the changing leaves. Yes, I am totally be a foliage fanatic - my gluttony for fiery maples and golden ginkgo leaves knows no boundaries this year, it seems. 🙂 All of that driving has taken me through a lot... Continue Reading →
Central Hokkaido in the summertime is often likened to the Italian countryside, in particular Tuscany. Having just been in Tuscany earlier this year, I can safely say that those comparisons fall a little short on the Japanese side. Biei Town, however, still thinks its landscape is something to immortalize, on manhole covers at least: The... Continue Reading →
If you're headed north to the island of Hokkaido with kids and are swinging through the Asahikawa area, you might want to put the Asahiyama Zoo on your list. Asahiyama Zoo is considered Japan's top zoo (at least, from what I discovered, it attracts more annual visitors than Tokyo's Ueno Zoo). It's well-known for its... Continue Reading →
If you saw the Uncover Japan facebook page the other week, you might have caught the picture of a rather angry-looking, red-faced man staring out at you. I found him in Noboribetsu Onsen in Hokkaido, where I was vacationing last month. He and his ilk were all over the place - in fact, Noboribetsu Onsen... Continue Reading →
Noboribetsu Onsen is considered to be Hokkaido's top onsen (hot spring) resort. After spending two nights there in mid-July, I have to agree that it's pretty darn good. But the baths feel a bit commercialized - the complex of my ryokan alone had at least 13-15 baths per gender. So when I heard about a... Continue Reading →
Like the rest of Japan, Hokkaido is known for its seafood. I made sure to sample my fair share while up north last week. But many people may not realize that Hokkaido is also a dairy paradise, celebrated for its milk, cheese and ice cream. By midweek my family and I were in Furano, enjoying... Continue Reading →
