Before I moved to Japan my wife’s Grandma emailed me an article about a tiny island, way out in the ocean off the coast of Japan. She sent it to me with a quick note “You should visit this island sometime – Love, Grandma”. After reading up on the island and … Read More
Back in July my friend Junpei asked me if I wanted to go to a Japanese music festival on Hachijojima, a tiny island off the coast of Japan. The music festival called Liquid Groove Drop, was a mix of Indian music, techno, and elctronic dance music. The venue was the Yokotoike Ura Beach (横問ヶ浦) on … Read More
The Silver Grass Autumn Flower Every year in late August the head high grass called susuki (すすき) blooms en-mass. The soft gold grass “flowers” are quite beautiful despite their lackluster coloring. It is always a little sad to see the susuki blooming though as it signals the rapidly approaching end to … Read More
When dinosaurs roamed the planet, and long before the Shokuryoshi (discussed in detail later) entered the scene, the Izu Peninsula of Japan was just a tiny collection of small volcanic islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean. Then these islands began moving north on the Philippine Sea Plate and eventually collided with Honshu, the … Read More
West of Tokyo lies the mountain town of Hakone. Hakone is located in the heart of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park and offers many attractions, both natural and manmade, that make this area a popular tourist destination. There are sulfur springs, shrines, a huge lake, a castle, black eggs that add seven … Read More
The mountain town of Minakami (みなかみ町) is located in the northern edge of Gunma Prefecture. It is also the headwaters for the Tone River and the home of Tanigawa-dake (aka The Mountain of Death) and is also the gateway to Oze National Park. So when my friend Hama asked me to … Read More
Tenkara Fly Fishing, Off Piste Skiing, and Nihon Kawanezumi This week started out with one last ski tour before the end of the ’15/’16 season. I went to Norikura Kogen, which is a 3026 meter tall mountain in the Northern Japanese Alps. This week was Golden Week – the most popular holiday in Japan. Consequently, … Read More
Day 2 – Mount Amagi … Continued from Day 1 (Click Here if you missed it) In the morning the storm had cleared and it was bright and sunny. I eagerly hit the road, stopping quickly at a convenience store to buy breakfast and lunch. My destination was the Amagi … Read More
Day 1 – Izu Skyline I am at the crest of bamboo covered knoll. The bamboo here grows like grass, 1-meter-tall grass, its undulations mark time with the gusts of wind blowing in from the ocean. The bamboo reminds me of the wheat fields I drove through in Kansas and … Read More
One of the greatest Japanese inventions has to be the Michi No Eki or better known as “Roadside Station”. They are literally everywhere in Japan but unlike their sibling the highway rest stop, the Michi No Eki can only be found in areas where you don’t need to pay exorbitant … Read More