I landed in Kathmandu on a hot, humid afternoon in the summer of 2019. Feeling the stickiness of the humidity on my skin, I...
When you think of a famous mountain in Japan, which one comes to mind? The answer is, almost universally, Mount Fuji, and perhaps rightly so. Japan,...
A car horn sounded from the road. Keiko-san, who, as far as I could tell had been at the rear of the farmhouse preparing dinner,...
Hanami, the ritual of admiring the beautiful snow-like quality of sakura flower petals in spring with family and friends, is something all Japanese look forward...
Credit: Misaki Hashimoto YouTube Channel On a cloudy day in late September, I headed for the Tokyo Metropolitan Building (Tocho) to see the famous 45th...
Well, actually, I got it in two. First, I had to go to the Japanese equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles and complete...
When you talk about the best places to go for sightseeing in Japan, a few names come to mind, I’m sure. Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto are...
In recent years, Shibuya has stolen the spotlight for Halloween festivities in Tokyo. Never short of any controversy (4 Men Arrested in Shibuya Halloween Chaos) and...
This article was prompted after reading an explanation why the Japanese cannot speak proper English — that, supposedly, post-war U.S. occupation authorities did not allow...
The Kiyotsukyo Gorge Tunnel (Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture) is enveloped in chilly air as I walk through. After about a 20-minute stroll, the 750-meter passageway...
(Second of Two Parts) Read Part 1 at this link. The second installment of this two-part report on the remnants of Tokyo’s extensive...
(First of Two Parts) Read Part 2 at this link. At its peak, Tokyo had an extensive public tram network which covered 213 kilometers of...