Japan tourism&culture spots select ~6/9/2015 Sendai,Okayama&Laputa Road

It took me five years to finally make it to Mount Koya, although I lived in Japan at the time. Maybe because it is quite a train ride (or better said several train rides) to get there, but actually the journey itself is already worth the trip.

Few temples in Japan are opened after 4PM, and even fewer are lit after nightfall. This small temple on Teramachi-dori in Kyoto, called Yata-dera, does all these things and by night, when it’s brilliantly lit by dozens of chōchin paper lanterns, it is really a wonderful sight…

Beside their coastlines, there are other insistent geographical features that identify islands. In Okinawa, there is the great escarpment of Tindahanata on Yonaguni-jima Island, while Ishigaki Island has the strangely occult form of Mount Maapee, shaped like a sorcerer’s hat.

In Japan many of the mundane objects, encountered on any street corner, can offer nice details about local history, festivals, traditional local products or even local foods and delicacies. I wrote many times about the Japanese artistic manhole covers and their touristic interesting graphic content.

Shirakawa-go, nestled in at the edge of the Shokawa River, is famous for its Gassho-zukuri (houses with thatched roofs) village. From the village, you can command a fine view of the snow-covered Mt. Hakusan.

Although it was built not long time ago, in 1992, the Himeji Koko-en deserves a place among the most representative gardens in Japan. Actually, it is a complex of 9 different gardens, planned to illustrate the essence of the Edo period garden design.

I’m not exaggerating – out of all the delicious food Oana and I tried in Japan, gyutan is right up there with okonomiyaki. Gyutan aka ‘beef tongue’ is a Sendai delicacy and, while some Brits might be a bit put off by the idea, it is the most delicious and tender meat.

In the old times, the Itsukushima Island was considered sacred land, so ordinary people weren’t allowed to touch the ground of the island. For this reason, the Itsukushima Shrine was built on pillars, over a land area that gets flooded during high tide.

We believe there are 2 kinds of travel. The 1st is a spontaneous journey. These are super fun! The 2nd is a planned trip with everything researched ahead of time.

This is located in Sendai and you can easily reached this place by taking the JR Shinkansen Hayabusa line which is the fastest Shinkansen in the Tohoku line.

For the perfect Japanese garden, everything matters: the plants, the rocks, the ponds, the paths, and also the background.

There are some unexplored regions that are not introduced on tourism sites, even though they are highly recommended. We would like to introduce those too. So, we start with one that you all know, from the work of director, Hayao Miyazaki, “Laputa-Castle in the Sky”.

The Atsuta Matsuri is one of the major festivals of Nagoya and the Chubu Region of Central Japan and is held at the famous Atsuta Jingu Shrine. The festival is held every June 5th and is also known as Shobu-sai or Annual Celebration of Atsuta Jingu Shrine.

The “Hobonichi” Planner has almost become a standard in Japan to record the joys of everyday life. (Reference article: To Capture Your Time – A “Hobonichi” Planner) This time, we would like to introduce you to TOBICHI II.

“Why are you in Sendai?” a slightly confused-looking businessman asked me and Oana as we stood huddled an umbrella waiting to get a table in a little izakaya.