Archive for 'Things to Do'

Spring in Japan

Spring in Japan

Photo by jasohill on Flickr

March to May brings on the spring season in Japan (be sure to check out our post on winter in Japan). With the weather starting to warm up and the flowers and trees starting to blossom and bud, spring in Japan is a photographers dream come true.

Here’s our rundown on things to do in Japan in spring and some outstanding spring photographs from Flickr.

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Top 5 Hiking Trails in Japan

Hiking in Japan

Photo by -just-jen- on Flickr

While my early mountain hikes more closely resembled death marches than something actually enjoyable, recently I’ve started to find a lot more pleasure in overnight hiking trips. So I was particularly interested when Stacey sent me this link to a BBC article on Japan’s top five hiking spots.

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Things to do in Osaka – The Instant Ramen Museum

Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum

Photo by JanneM on Flickr

Stacey loves her ramen. I on the other hand, do not. During week long hiking trips of my youth I feasted on little more than instant porridge in the morning and instant ramen for lunch and dinner. By the seventh day I had instant ramen coming out my ears and I had developed a strong loathing for the stuff.

Can you imagine my excitement when Stacey suggested we visit the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka?

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Shooting Osaka, Japan: Photography Examples and Tips

Osaka Castle

Just wanted to let you know that one of my photography articles about Japan was posted over at PhotoTuts. It’s a quick look at Osaka and what top spots there are for photographers. I’m hoping to do one for Tokyo as well. I’ll keep you posted :)

Winter in Japan

Winter in Japan Mount Fuji
December to February brings on the winter season in Japan. From skiing to snow sculpture building, Japan has a ton of winter activities to enjoy (also check out our post on what to do in Japan in spring).

Here’s our rundown on things to do in Japan in winter and some outstanding winter photographs from Flickr.

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Takarazuka Revue – The All Female Japanese Theater

Takarazuka Revue

It wasn’t too long ago that it was unheard of to find woman actually playing female roles in Japanese theater. Much like Shakespeare, female parts in Noh dramas and Kabuki were always played by men dressed as women, which today would seem kind of strange.

In 1914, however, the trend did a 180 with the establishment of the first ever women only theater group – the Takarazuke Revue.

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Top 5 Japanese Gardens

Japanese garden

The Japanese take their gardening and landscaping very seriously. You may be surprised at first when you discover that what you thought was a bird up in a tree is really a coverall clad Japanese gardener working on shaping and lovingly pruning the tree.

There are so many beautiful gardens to see in Japan that it’s hard to trim it down to the must-see. But we’ve tried our best. So here we go with our top five gardens in Japan.

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Where To Get Geisha/Maiko Pictures Taken in Kyoto

Geisha & Maiko pictures taken in Kyoto, Japan.

I love getting dressed up in period costumes and getting my picture taken. Through the years I’ve been a Cowboy, Civil War General, Canadian Mountie, Samurai, and plenty of other strange occupations. During my visit to Japan I wanted to make sure that there were plenty of opportunities for touristy dress up pictures.

The one thing I really wanted was traditional Geisha or Maiko pictures, but I was pretty sure the chances of me bumping into any real life Geisha walking the streets on Kyoto was pretty slim. So, with my wife’s permission, I booked a photo session with one of the top studios specializing in Geisha and Maiko pictures.


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Cute Places to Visit in Japan

Hello Kitty - Cute Places to Visit in Japan

Please welcome my wife Stacey to I Heart Japan! She’s got a keen eye for all things cute and she’ll be running down the latest trends in kawaii and Japanese crafts.

It doesn’t get much cuter than Hello Kitty. Did you know there is a theme park in Japan dedicated to Hello Kitty! How can you not visit it? (I guess pretty easily, if you didn’t find out about it until you were back home, like me.)


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Tokyo Fireworks – July 25, 2009

Tokyo Fireworks

If you’re going to be in Tokyo at the end of July, you’ll definitely want to check out the Tokyo fireworks that are held every year on the last Saturday of of the month.

Over a million people usually turn out to watch the approximately 22,000 fireworks lighting up the sky over a period of 1 and a half hours.

For directions and information check out the TokyoTopia web site.