Japan Stories

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 lunch menu.The one...

A wall of Sake Barrels A great wall of colourful Saké Barrels can be seen along the path to Meiji Jingu, the main Shinto Shrine in Tokyo.  The barrels are wrapped in straw and have wonderful unique graphics.  However, as an article in the Japan Times website...

Public bath experience Try this arty public bath house 銭湯 (sento) is located on the tiny island of Naoshima, about 2.5 hrs by train and ferry from Osaka.  Jims Japan regularly takes travelers to this art-themed island.  Bathing is segregated by gender, however a...

A long day return trip by Shinkansen and local train from Tokyo brings you to Nikko, approximately 85 miles (140 kms) to the north.This is home to a World Heritage temple complex nestled into a mountainside packed with centuries old cedars.You arrive at the restored...

Nara, a former capital city of Japan is home to free-ranging deer, and one of Japan’s largest statues of the Buddha.  The Buddha’s statue is housed in the world’s largest wooden building.  Yet this building, the temple Todaiji, is a reconstruction dating from 1692 is...

The sound of cicadas singing in the trees, the beauty of the lotus flowers in a temple compound – these are such vibrant memories still alive in memory from a recent visit to Kyoto and Kamakura in the late Japanese summer. The heat and humidity is made bearable by the...

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 to 1397. In 1950 the...

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 winter the snow, clear,...

Shugaku-in was originally constructed by the retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo, starting in 1655, with the initial construction completed in 1659.  At every turn, a new perspective of exquisite gardens and buildings awaits.