Bodhidharma: The Original Daruma

Daruma are an interesting tradition in Japan, and their roots in Zen Buddhism are not to be overlooked. Since my original post on the Daruma Festival, I’ve been reading more and more about the doll, its tradition, symbolism, and connection to the figure Bodhidharma and decided that another post to sort out my thoughts was […]

Kinkakuji: The Golden Pavilion

In Kyoto, there are many beautiful places to visit. Almost too many for the history and religion buffs to do in a single go, to be honest. One of the most splendid sites to partake in on a clear, sunny day has to be Kinkakuji, a pavilion of gold on a still lake.

Fushimi Inari

When you see those glorious orange tori gates Japan is famous for, one site stands out among the rest for its sheer number: Fushimi Inari, just south of Kyoto proper. There’s a lot of history and culture packed upon this mountain shrine, ready to be unpacked by the willing traveler.

Kiyomizudera: Waters and Blessings

Let’s be real: Kyoto can really be overwhelming with the number of shrines and historic places nestled within its boundaries. There are just so many to see that in order to draw in pilgrims, visitors, and those lucrative tourist moneys, each shrine or temple needs to have something to draw people in. It isn’t necessarily […]

Pocky Day in Japan

11/11, November 11th, is Pocky Day here in Japan. It’s pretty low-key; you won’t really find it unless you really look for it. The consumer-based holiday isn’t really all that old or revered, but it did come about from a bitter rivalry with a certain country across the Sea of Japan, or the East Sea, […]

Nagoya Castle

Japan has no shortage of castles sprinkled about the country. While visiting Nagoya for a conference, I was able to stop by the local castle, as it was only about a 15-minute walk from my hotel. Each castle seems to have its own unique attribute that pulls in tourists, and for Nagoya, it definitely was […]

Shinsekai and Dotonbori in Osaka

Osaka is a pretty big and bustling city. I visited there once, briefly, back in 2010 with a friend of mine while I was living in Korea. I remember watching the winter olympics in a Korean hostel in the area of Shinsekai, known as a rougher part of the city. It seems to have calmed […]

Museum of Yebisu Beer: History and Beer

While visiting Ebisu a week ago, my wife decided that we would go to the Yebisu Beer Museum, just a short walk from Ebisu Station. I’m not a big fan of Japanese macro beers, but I figured it would be a nice experience. Little did I know, it would turn out to be much, much […]

Traditional Japanese Tie-Dyeing (Shibori)

I was tempted to leave the title as “Traditional Japanese Dying,” but realized I didn’t want to mislead with a click-bait title. If you’ve ever seen traditional Japanese textiles with a blueish indigo dye, there’s a very high chance that it was perpared using the traditional dying technique known as Shibori. In a small city […]

Cormorant Fishing (Ukai)

People have used animals to assist with hunting food for hundreds and thousands of years. They can even be used to assist in fishing. Cormorant fishing is the use of specially trained birds to help fisherman catch fish. It’s particularly famous around the Nagaragawa River in Gifu prefecture, near Gifu City. I was incredibly fortunate […]