Discoveries from around the archipelago
Five years go, I was sitting in my kitchen in Okinawa, playing cards with a friend while my infant daughter slept at our feet, when the messages started coming through: "Are you alright?" "Oh my word, how devastating!" "Is everything ok????" "PLEASE tell us you're alright." They had every reason to be concerned. A 9.0... Continue Reading →
Ahhh, it's upon us. The most wonderful - and dreaded - time of the year. No, not Christmas. Not even Obon, the summer holiday that sees Japanese returning to their ancestral homes in droves. Rather, I am talking about Golden Week, the string of holidays that falls between April 29th and May 5th/6th. So, you're... Continue Reading →
My family received some news earlier this month that we had been anxiously awaiting ... the destination for my husband's next work assignment. Where are we going, you ask? Well, see if you can tell what all the pictures below have in common. Think you got it? If you guessed that Tokyo had something to... Continue Reading →
As I mentioned in my previous post on regional specialties, I love to travel on the whims of my appetite and frankly, no other nation has as many different regional specialties as Japan. (I think. I mean, here, every TOWN practically has something.) So to add to the list I shared before, here are five... Continue Reading →
It was with both great excitement and a slightly heavy heart that I pulled out my map of Japan as the New Year dawned this week and plotted my options for exploration in 2014. The great excitement part is easy to understand. I have another whole year to explore Japan! After three years of being... Continue Reading →
If you're in Japan anytime in the month of November, my advice to you is to hightail it to a shrine. November 15th is Shichi-go-san (literally 7-5-3), a celebration of children aged 3, 5 and 7 and you haven't lived until you've seen adorable toddlers kitted out in full kiddie kimonos. But since Shichi-go-san isn't a... Continue Reading →
When I first visited Japan, my trusty guidebook informed me that Japan was about the size of California. Having never lived in California at that point and not venturing much beyond the Tokyo region on that first trip, I never truly comprehended the scope of this country (or our own). Today, I can say I've... Continue Reading →
You'd think by now that I'd be tired of tea ceremonies. With the numerous tea ceremony tours I led in Okinawa for American service members and families and the few that I've tried here on mainland myself, that's an awful lot of matcha to swill. They've all been worthwhile, in some way or another, but... Continue Reading →
My husband returned home this week after being away for nearly two months on a business trip. My "reward" for seven weeks of single parenting is a weekend away to explore more of Japan. (Hooray!) I'm currently up in Okayama and Kurashiki but will be back to the regular posting on Monday. In the meantime,... Continue Reading →
Yasukuni Shrine is in the news this week. In fact, it's always in the news come the middle of August. On August 15th, Japan (and the world, for that matter) marks the day of surrender that ended the Pacific War. And every August for the past six decades, the world watches to see if the... Continue Reading →
