The expression 紅葉 – literally red leaves – can denote two things: the Japanese maple tree and tinted autumn leaves. Autumn in Japan comes late, brings clear blue days and is pleasantly mild (in fact, November went from being my least favorite...

You know what’s nice about living in Japan? People pay attention to details here. To details that make your life easier. A lot of times, you look at a small thing and realize, that people have actually thought about what they’re doing. Hook and ring...

New governments mean changes of the status quo. Even if the last government assured you of X, the new one might tell you tomorrow, “not X”. Japan has been under a new government since September of this year. And as is the case for so many governments...

The next stop of our last trip was the town of Himeji, located in the Kansai area. Its main (and almost only) touristic feature majestically towers over everything: Himeji Castle (姫路城), the single most famous castle in all of Japan. Built in the...

Number 2 (the first being Matsushima Bay) of the Nihon Sankei, the three most scenic sights of Japan, can be crossed off from our list: we visited the floating torii of the holy island of Miyajima. Miyajima (its real name is Itsukushima) is one of the...