A Brief History of Japan
One of the things we’ve discovered about Japan is that it would be very hard to understand Japan today without understanding a bit about its long and unique history and … Read More
Year: 2014
Kyoto, the Soul of Japan
Kyoto must be considered one of the world’s cultural and historic treasure troves. With 17 World Heritage Sites, more than 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines, Kyoto has been … Read More
Review: Hotel Granvia Kyoto
We’re not normally big fans of train station hotels, but the Granvia is an exception. While it’s not the Ritz (which we popped into and it was STUNNING), at a fifth … Read More
Two Tales of a City, Hiroshima
“Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T. It … Read More
A Morning Visit to Miyajima Island
We arrived in Hiroshima after a long day of train travel, and checked into the Sheraton Hotel. Even though it’s right at the train station, the hotel is first-class. We … Read More
Takayama – Gateway to the Northern Japan Alps
Next stop, Takayama. We took a shinkansen (a Japanese bullet train) from Yokohama to Nagoya, then switched to an ‘express’ train from Nagoya to Takayama. An express train is slower … Read More
Our Stay in a Japanese Ryokan
Our hotel in Takayama, Hidatei Hanaougi, is a ryokan. The hotel’s website lists ‘Heart-warming hospitality” as the Number 1 reason to stay there, and we couldn’t agree more. From the … Read More
Hiking Around Mt Fuji with Mountain Trek
We’ve spent the past week in the company of 6 other intrepid trekkers hiking around Mt Fuji with Mountain Trek guides Ted Taylor and Kirkland Shave. Mountain Trek is a … Read More
Making Sense of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan is Confucing
According to one source, 90% of the Japanese say they practice Shinto, 90% say they practice Buddhism, and 90% say they aren’t religious. Other sources dispute this, attributing statistics like … Read More