To give you a little background, my husband and I already were in Taiwan for a week before we went to Japan (we were visiting my sister for her wedding). This morning when we left for our flight, we arrived to the airport to find our flight was 5 hours delayed. As we were flying into Narita...Read More
Have you ever wanted to go on a tour to Japan? Or have you already been on a tour, but would love to re-live the memories? Join us on the Late Cherry Blossom Tour though our very own Office Manager, Rachel Moore! Rachel and her husband will be traveling on our Best of Japan Fully...Read More
As a movie lover, it is interesting to see how some lines from a movie are able to entrench themselves into a culture. For example, who has not heard the lines “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto”, “Go ahead, make my day”, “I’ll be back” and “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” to...Read More
With my apologies to David Letterman, this completes my top ten reasons why I like Japan. I guess you could also title this the top ten reasons to travel to Japan.Read More
With my apologies to David Letterman, here are my first five items (#10 to #6) of my top ten reasons why I like Japan. I guess you could also title this the top ten reasons to travel to Japan.Read More
According to a poll taken in the year 2000, the Japanese believe their best invention of the 20th century was instant noodles (the second best was the Walkman). In 2010, it is estimated approximately 95 billion servings of instant noodles were eaten worldwide. It all started in the sleepy town of Ikeda located in northern...Read More
Its picture can be found in many travel brochures, and it has even appeared in movies such as Memoirs of a Geisha. And even though it is only a short 5 minute train ride from the always busy Kyoto Train station, few people make the journey to Fushimi Inari Shrine. Often thought of as the...Read More
We all know the Japanese are “very polite.” In Japan being polite goes beyond just saying excuse me or thank you. In Japanese, the word is “teinei.” Teinei goes beyond the English word “polite” because it applies to far more than just people and their actions. Additional meanings of the Japanese word “teinei” include courteous, careful,...Read More
Sake making began about two thousand years ago when rice planting was introduced to Japan. Fushimi is one of the biggest sake producing areas in Japan. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the lord of Osaka Castle, built Fushimi Casle in the late sixteenth century, the sake industry in the surrounding city of Fushimi flourished. Many sake breweries...Read More
Osechi Ryori, (New Year’s dishes) are specially prepared to be eaten during the first three days of January. They are cooked and preserved for three days so that housewives don’t have to cook during that period. The yellow in the grey dish is herring roe representing fertility. Bean in Japanese is ‘mame’ which has the...Read More
