Everyone thinks you have to go to Kyoto to see beautiful shrines and temples, but Tokyo boasts some incredibly amazing ones if you know where to look. These are my … Continue reading The best shrines & temples in Tokyo
If you’re the kind of traveler who likes to wander the backstreets and discover a city’s delights for yourself, here are some neighborhoods where you can’t go wrong! Read on … Continue reading Neighborhood Walks
This is where I often take people on their first day in Tokyo. It’s everything you thought Japan would be – traditional festivals, a secret garden, temples & more! Asakusa is … Continue reading Asakusa Area
The lucky cat temple with a magnificent wooden pagoda, Gotoku-ji is a serene and uncrowded temple seldom visited by tourists. It’s a great place to see plum blossoms (Feb) and autumn leaves … Continue reading Gotoku-ji Temple
Kamakura is stuffed with entertaining shrines and temples, but this is the only one with a hillside of gorgeous hydrangeas, a thirty-foot-tall Kannon figure covered in gold, and a candle-lit … Continue reading Hasedera Temple
Let’s get out of Tokyo for a day, and see some of the most entertaining shrines & temples in Japan. Kamakura was the capitol of Japan during the early days of … Continue reading Kamakura Day Trip
Kamiya-cho? Why would anyone want to get off the train at Kamiya-cho? Actually, from Kamiya-cho Station, we can walk to that incongruously orange replica of the EiffelTower and a … Continue reading Kamiya-cho Area
This Old Tokyo shitamachi neighborhood has a temple where we can watch a fire ceremony with taiko drums, a dragon fountain that grants wishes written on dissolving paper, and is one of the most … Continue reading Monzen-Nakacho Area
I never get tired of visiting the avenues of Zojo-ji’s lovely, colorful Jizo figures with their spinning pinwheels. Zojo-ji Temple is also the site of seven shoguns’ graves and a fine place to … Continue reading Zojo-ji Temple
