15 Mar: 12 Sakura Manhole Covers
The main role of the relief drawings from the manhole covers is to prevent wheel slipping and potential accidents, especially when the metallic surface is wet. However, only in Japan, the ... »
Read more » 42 comments » 11 Mar: The Sad Story of the Hidden Ginkgo from Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
In order to reach the main building of the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, you have to climb 61 steps. On the left side, it was impossible not to notice an impressive 1000-year old ginkgo tree, ... »
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At less than half a kilometer south-east of Kamakura Station, you can visit one of the most beautiful temples from Kamakura, the Hongaku-ji Temple. The Temple belongs to the Nichiren Sect ... »
Read more » 18 comments » 03 Mar: Customs and traditions of Japan - Hina Matsuri: Dolls and Deli
On March 3rd, Japan celebrates Hina Matsuri 「雛祭り」, the Japanese Doll Festival, also known as the "Girl's Day", an important event, especially for families with ... »
Read more » 47 comments » 24 Feb: A Photo Visit to Yakumo Shrine
At less than a kilometer from the Kamakura Station you can find the Yakumo Shrine, established in 1082 by Yoshimitsu Minamoto, the grand-grand-grandfather of the Kamakura Shogunate founder, ... »
Read more » 21 comments » 22 Feb: Reflections, photo 18 - Shinjuku
On my latest visit to Shinjuku, I remembered my first "reflections" photos, Inter-dimensional Mirror and Inter-dimensional Gate... :) So I couldn't resist taking another picture of the same ... »
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Even since my first visit to Japan, my attention was attracted by the manhole covers (manhoru in Japanese), many of them unusual decorated: cute characters, plants, castles, buildings... I ... »
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At the Kanda Myojin Shrine I photographed this beautiful statue of Ebisu, one of the Seven Gods of Luck (Shichifukujin), God of fishermen, good fortune and commerce, the only god from the Seven ... »
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Japan was and remains a unique place. Whether we talk about traditional festivals or traditional theater, religion or pop culture, architecture or transport, food or clothing, martial arts or ... »
Read more » 80 comments » 12 Feb: Japanese mascots - Noppon Brothers and the Valentine's Day
Some slightly less known mascots from Tokyo, the Noppon Brothers are the mascots of Tokyo Tower. They are twins, 2.23 meters tall and 11 years old (they were born on December 23 1998, on the 40th ... »
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Several photos taken in Akihabara, on Chuo-dori, with reflections of Akihabara's landmark buildings Comic Toranoana and Animate. The building on which these reflections are ... »
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Japan's love for Mount Fuji, the most famous place in Japan, remained unchanged over the years. Fuji-san (富士山) is definitely the most represented place from Japan, starting ... »
Read more » 59 comments » 05 Feb: 40 great vintage Geisha Photos
Today we almost cannot think about traveling somewhere without taking photos, with more or less sophisticated cameras or at least with the mobile phone... A hundred years ago however, when the ... »
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Setsubun ( 節分 ) is a Japanese traditional celebration taking place in the last day of a season. From the four annual festivals, the most important is the one taking place today, on ... »
Read more » 20 comments » 02 Feb: 40 Sapporo Yuki Matsuri Photos
Between February 5 and 11, in Sapporo takes place the Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri), one of the biggest winter events in Japan. It is estimated that this year more than 2 million ... »
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The 10th installment of the Japanese Narrow Buildings series features two shops located near the Ueno Station. I especially like the design of the left one, with the vertical red stripe, that ... »
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The "robot anime" (ロボット, robotto) (known outside Japan as mecha anime) is a Japanese animation genre featuring walking robots (called mecha), usually bipedal, with ... »
Read more » 60 comments » 27 Jan: Edo Kabuki Theater
Do you like Kabuki theater? About two years ago, I had the rare opportunity to enjoy a stunning performance by the Heisei Nakamura-za, led by Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII. I fell in love with ... »
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In Ota-ku, near the Omori Station, in a nice little park I found an interesting fountain: Why interesting? Because the fountain is a scaled up replica of a Jomon period (14,000 - 400 BC) ... »
Read more » 15 comments » 25 Jan: The Great Buddha from Ueno
In the Ueno Park, near the Bells of Time and the Monster Lantern, there's a small hill known since the Edo Period as Daibutsu Yama (the Great Buddha Hill). The first Daibutsu (Great Buddha) ... »
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Two photos with the splendid skyscraper Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower, reflected on the Shinjuku i-Land Tower. When I took the pictures, I think I was standing somewhere around here: ... »
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After enjoying the trip with the Hakone pirate ships, from Motohakone-ko to Togendai I took the Hakone Ropeway... ] [/lightbox] Click on photo for higher resolution ... and after a few ... »
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If you traveled to Japan, chances are you've seen some unusual looking objects like this one: Kumade, The Shitamachi Museum, Ueno This is a kumade, a wide rake made of bamboo, traditionally ... »
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One of the few buildings in Ginza that survived the bombings of the Second World War was the Hattori Clock Tower, also known as Ginza Wako. Located at the hearth of Ginza district and owned today ... »
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One of the best known temples in Kamakura is the Hongaku-ji Temple, belonging to the Nichiren Buddhist Sect. Little known is the fact that before the construction of the present-day Temple, on ... »
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This is an old building that I like very much, on Asakusa Dori. I passed by it on every trip I made to Tokyo... ... and when I returned home I discovered that I never took a picture with it. ... »
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A lot of Japanese customs and traditions at the beginning of the year! :) At the middle of January, a festival of fire takes place in Japan, named Dondo Yaki ( ... »
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One of the reasons I like Japan so much is the fact that people know how to have fun. :) On January 15th, in the Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture, a very happy festival takes place, the ... »
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In Kamakura, close to Kamakura Station, you can visit a temple of the Buddhist Nichiren Sect, the Myoryuji Temple. At this temple, in the 15th century, lived the priest Nisshin (1407-1488), a man ... »
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In the 9th installment of the Japanese narrow buildings series, let's visit Chuo-ku, on the banks of the Sumida river, where groups of small buildings give the area a certain charm... ... ... »
Read more » 17 comments » 08 Jan: Japanese Giant Tombs
From time to time, searching for travel destinations, I stumble across interesting things in Google Maps, like the huge drawing with Earth-kun. This time, browsing the Google Earth near Osaka, my ... »
Read more » 47 comments » 07 Jan: Nippon Maru
In Yokohama, in the Minato Mirai 21 area, you can see a sailing ship named Nippon Maru. I liked it very much, because, as I wrote before, I love sailing ships, they make me remember the ... »
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The third part of this Best of 2009 selection contains the Japan Travel articles. In terms of traffic, this series wasn't as popular as the Cool Japan articles (nothing can compete with Gundam... ... »
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On December 31 at midnight, the New Year is welcomed in Japan with 108 bell chimes, during the Joya no Kane ( 除夜の鐘 ) ritual taking place at the Buddhist Temples. ... »
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One of the nicest Japanese traditions related to the New Year is the one about the Seven Gods of Luck (or Lucky Gods). As Santa Claus is coming on his sleigh on Christmas Eve and brings gifts, ... »
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Kagami mochi (鏡餅) is a special New Year Japanese decoration, usually displayed in the kamidana, for the toshigami, the god of the new year, to bring good luck and prosperity in the ... »
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On the New Year, there is a custom in Japan to display, on the house entry door or on the porch, a special knitted rope made from rice straws called shimenawa, on which are hung special strips of ... »
Read more » 28 comments » 21 Dec: The Christmas tree in Japan
Since the number of Christians in Japan is relatively low (under 1%), the Christmas day is not a national holiday and the Christmas in Japan is mainly a commercial event. The big companies ... »
Read more » 35 comments » 20 Dec: From Samurai to Doraemon, Short History of Santa in Japan (part 1)
The earliest record of a Christmas celebration in Japan was in 1552, when a Jesuit missionary held a mass in Suo, Yamaguchi prefecture. However, it is believed that small Christmas celebrations ... »
Read more » 26 comments » 17 Dec: The Hagoita Fair
The Winter Holidays are coming, with Christmas trees, traditional food, Christmas carols and New Year traditions. I have a lot of interesting things to share with you during this time of year, ... »
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Anyone who experienced the Japanese trains has a story to tell... There are hundreds of stories about the punctuality, the speed or the cleanness of the Japanese trains. Nevertheless, what makes ... »
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Near Senso-ji, on the back of the Asakusa Shrine, there is a small, little known Inari Shrine. It was erected in 1854 and, unlike the Senso-ji Complex that was rebuilt after the bombardments from ... »
Read more » 11 comments » 13 Dec: Reflections, photo 15 - The Skywalk of Shinjuku City Office
Here's a reflection I enjoyed very much, in Kabuki-cho, on the skyway between the Shinjuku City Office Main building and the City Office Annex. I know, Kabuki-cho should be visited at ... »
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If you like the Chinese Dragons, you must visit China or... a Chinatown. In Japan, you can visit Yokohama Chinatown, the largest from Asia. The Dragon is one of the most important creatures from ... »
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The Great Buddha from Kamakura (Daibutsu) was cast in 1252, with money raised from donations by the priest Joko and was sculpted by Ono-Goroemon and Tanji-Hisatomo. ] [/lightbox] Click on photo ... »
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The Great Buddha from Kamakura (Daibutsu) represents the Amida Buddha (in Japanese Amida Nyorai), the Buddha of the Infinite Light, the main Deity of the Buddhist Sect Jodo (Pure ... »
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Another join between old and new from the Tokyo's mixed architecture attracted my camera in Ikebukuro, this time because of the traditional look of the old building. This old building ... »
Read more » 18 comments » 04 Dec: The Bell of the Chosho-ji Temple
In Asakusa, close to the Sumida river shores, you can find a small Nichiren Buddhist Temple, Chosho-ji. It is a very old temple, the founding date is not precisely known, but it is approx. around ... »
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A photo taken after sunset, with a reflection of the SkyFlower, one of the attractions of the Tokyo Dome City: The reflection is almost visible in Google Street too: View Larger ... »
Read more » 12 comments » 02 Dec: 20 Kobe Luminarie Photos
From December 3rd to 14th, in Kobe will take place the 15th edition of the Kobe Luminarie light festival, an artistic event also known as "sculptures of light", commemorating the approx. 6000 ... »
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18 Mar: 25 Sakura Songs, 15: Nirgilis - Sakura 
25 Sakura Songs: Nirgilis - ... »
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17 Mar: 3 Old Japanese Sakura Stories 
In Japan, sakura will start blooming soon... but the snow that fell here a ... »
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17 Mar: A Japan Photo per Day - Tetsujin in Nakano Anime Shop 
Nakano Broadway, Tokyo Nikon D300 Lens: 12-24mm F/4G Focal Length: ... »
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16 Mar: A Japan Photo per Day - A City That Doesn't Sleep 
Night view from Sunshine City, Ikebukuro, Tokyo Nikon D300 Lens: 18-70mm ... »
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15 Mar: 12 Sakura Manhole Covers The main role of the relief drawings from the manhole covers is to prevent ... »
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15 Mar: A Japan Photo per Day - Imperial Palace, Otemon Gate 
Imperial Palace, Tokyo Nikon D300 Lens: 12-24mm F/4G Focal Length: ... »
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3 Old Japanese Sakura Stories
3 Old Japanese Sakura Stories
3 Old Japanese Sakura Stories
Akihabara Maids, candid shots in Akiba
A Japan Photo per Day - Tetsujin in Nakano Anime Shop
12 Sakura Manhole Covers
3 Old Japanese Sakura Stories