At the Zen Buddhist temple of Rokuonji, more famously known as Kinkakuji (the temple of the golden pavilion), nestled in the foothills of north-west Kyoto, you will find this famous gold-plated building. The history dates back...

In Tokyo, the place to go and take your fill of electronics, gadgets, hobbies, games and cosplay is a district called Akihabara (often abbreviated as Akiba).  Located around a major multi-storey local rail crossroads station, it is easy to access...

Blossoming is a weather driven event, so there are long term forecasts in Japan as to the first day of cherry blossoms in the various regions of Japan.  Here is a map provided by Otenki.jp.  The dates are month / day.  You can follow the wave of...

In the grounds of the Zen Buddhist Temple of the heavenly dragon (Tenryuji) in Arashiyama I had a very special dining experience. Their vegetarian restaurant Shigetsu had the most artistically presented and tasty collection of dishes for their set...

In December 1968 Japan’s first Nobel Laureate, novelist Yasunari Kawabata, began his Nobel lecture entitled “Japan the Beautiful and Myself” with these words: “In the spring, cherry blossoms, in the summer the cuckoo.In autumn the moon, and in...