This is the season to be jolly! In Japan’s case, that means the season of summer festivals with delicious food stands, shaved ice, stir-fried noodles,...
When I used to come to Japan as a child, my grandma would sometimes look at my thin cotton shirts and exclaim “Suzushisou!” in...
Was it the rain from last night, I wondered? The bird’s chirping echoed early in the morning, while the river mist slowly but surely enveloped...
Here’s a riddle: it looks more like a dice, but in reality it is a fruit. Those who have visited Japan probably knows what...
Nothing says summer more than the coming of one of the most hated insects of all time: the mosquito. But with the mosquito also comes...
The sound of pheasants chirping and frogs croaking filled the air. The rice paddies reflected the blue sky, and the ridges between them...
Kanako, a maiko from Miyagawacho, Kyoto, does the ceremonial first pitch in Koshien Baseball Stadium on May 22, 2019. The weather in Japan is...
Imagine around 500 people, all wearing imperial kimonos from the Heian period, parading down the streets of Kyoto. In the first such ceremony of...
Sumo is a sport that has a long tradition in Japan, which spreads far and wide in the country. Even the tiny city of Fukushima,...
An historical park is being created in an area which in ancient times is thought to have held the seiden (main palace) and cloisters...
Osaka Metro Southern Harbor Port Town Line ‘Neutram’ trains are lined up in the Nakafuto railyard, Suminoe District, Osaka City. (Photo by Kenji Suzuki; Canon EOS...
As people in Japan look forward to the annual Boy’s Day celebration on May 5, the Koinobori Matsuri — or carp streamers festival —...