Japan Trip Ideas

Ginza Café Culture
銀座の喫茶店

Most people who visit Tokyo think of Ginza (銀座) as the neighborhood famous for its luxury shopping, restaurants, and entertainment venues. However, did you know that Ginza represents deep historical and cultural roots to the Japanese people? Besides having the largest Uniqlo store in the world, Ginza is home to historic buildings such as the Kabukiza Theater (Japan’s largest and most famous Kabuki theater), some of the most unique themed cafes in Tokyo, and the nostalgic Ginza Lion Beer Hall!

東京を訪れるほとんどの人は、銀座を高級なショッピング、レストラン、娯楽施設で有名な所だと思っています。 しかし、銀座は日本人にとって大切な歴史的、文化的な深いルーツでもありますね。 銀座には、世界で最大のユニクロ店があるほか、歌舞伎座、東京で最もユニークなテーマカフェ、懐かしい銀座ライオンビヤホールなどの歴史的建造物がたくさんありますよね。

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Ginza Theatrical Night Tour
銀座劇場ナイトツアー

Most people who visit Tokyo think of Ginza (銀座) as the neighborhood famous for its luxury shopping, restaurants, and entertainment venues. However, did you know that Ginza represents deep historical and cultural roots to the Japanese people? Besides having the largest uniqlo store in the world, Ginza is home to historic buildings such as the Kabukiza Theater (Japan’s largest and most famous Kabuki theater), some of the most unique themed cafes in Tokyo, and the nostalgic Ginza Lion Beer Hall!

東京を訪れるほとんどの人は、銀座を高級なショッピング、レストラン、娯楽施設で有名な所だと思っています。 しかし、銀座は日本人にとって大切な歴史的、文化的な深いルーツでもありますね。 銀座には、世界で最大のユニクロ店があるほか、歌舞伎座、東京で最もユニークなテーマカフェ、懐かしい銀座ライオンビヤホールなどの歴史的建造物がたくさんありますよね。

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Mt. Fuji-Hakone Bus Tour
春のバスツアー

A set of 8 ponds in Oshino Village in the Fuji Five Lake region fed by snow melt from the nearby Mt. Fuji that has filtered through porous layers of lava for over 80 years!

TIP: Have some salt grilled Ayu sweetfish (鮎) freshly caught from the crystal clear ponds!

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Interview with Wasabi Cultivator David Hulme

On a day trip to Okutama (about an hour west of Shinjuku), I met with wasabi cultivator David Hulme, an Australian expat and former journalist who has been working hard to expand knowledge of wasabi growing and restoring an old wasabi patch!

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Wasabi Growing in Okutama
奥多摩のワサビ

On a day trip to Okutama (about an hour west of Shinjuku), I met with wasabi cultivator David Hulme, an Australian ex-pat in Japan and former journalist who has been working hard to expand knowledge of wasabi growing while restoring an old wasabi patch!

奥多摩への日帰り旅行で、ワサビ栽培者David Hulmeさん(在日在住オーストラリア人の元記者)と出会いました!彼は古い山葵谷を復元するように成長しているワサビの知識を拡大するために懸命に働いています。

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Asahi Brewery Fukushima
アサヒビール福島工場

Recently, I visited Asahi Beer’s Fukushima Brewery for the first time. Fukushima Prefecture is famous for its sake, where the Fukushima Sake Brewers Cooperative consists of nearly 60 sake breweries. Moreover, the annual Japan Sake Awards has awarded the prefecture the most gold prizes of all of Japan for four years running as of 2016! Given this longstanding reputation for sake breweries, I was very excited to learn about how beer breweries might compare.

最近、アサヒ福島工場を初めて訪れました。 福島県は、福島酒造協同組合が約60酒蔵で構成されていることから有名らしいです。 また、毎年恒例の日本酒賞は、2012年~2016年の4年間にわたり、全国で最も多く金賞を授与されました! とても評価のあるビール醸造所ですので、ビールと日本酒がどのように比較されるかを知ることに興味がありました。

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