greathotelsinjapan Archives

Onsen Hopping in Kyushu

Posted 12/27/2023 by Michiyo Nakamoto

I can hear the gushing of the stream as its white-frothed water cascades over a small boulder and rushes towards a cluster of rocks. It’s snowing. Big feathery snow flakes swirl towards me, threatening to turn my hair white and my face red. But I am sitting in a pool of perfectly warm hot-spring water, comfortably insulated from the snow and chilly air around me. Evocatively named “bath in the forest,” or Mori-no-Yu, this onsen open-air bath overlooking the rushing stream… Read more »

Naomi Pollock's Favorite Things

Posted 04/24/2023 by Michiyo Nakamoto

Where do you live and why do you choose to live there? We no longer live in Japan but over the course of our multi-year stay, we lived in different parts of Tokyo: Shimouma, Nanpeidai, Moto Azabu, Minami Azabu and, finally, Minami Aoyama. After bedding down in low-scale apartment buildings, we opted for a high-rise for our last hurrah. As an architect, I probably would have protested the construction of our building. But our views of Tokyo Tower and, especially,… Read more »

Peter Tasker’s Favorite Things

Posted 06/20/2022 by Michiyo Nakamoto

Where do you live and why do you live there? For the last 15 years, I’ve been living in Nakameguro in central Tokyo. It’s outside the Yamanote Line belt, yet amazingly convenient. When the weather allows, I walk to my office near Aoyama Gakuin University (in Shibuya) in about 40 minutes. The Hibiya Line gives easy access to Ginza and the business district. The Toyoko Line express takes you in two stops to Shinjuku 3-chome and entertainment districts, which would… Read more »

Natsuko Toda’s Favorite Things

Posted 05/16/2022 by Michiyo Nakamoto

1. Where do you live and why did you choose to live there? I was born in Tokyo and lived in Setagaya ward until I was about 20. When Hiroo Garden Hills was developed, it looked like a good place to live. Back then, you could only buy an apartment there if you won a lottery. I was lucky I won the lottery and was able to buy an apartment, probably because it was on the fourth floor. (The number 4 in Japanese is… Read more »

Staring Out to Sea at Hiramatsu Atami

Posted 01/20/2022 by Michiyo Nakamoto

If you need a quick getaway from the hubbub of Tokyo and appreciate good French cuisine and a stunning sea view, try the Hiramatsu Hotel in Atami, which is just a two-hour drive from the heart of the Japanese capital. The hotel is part of the Hiramatsu group of restaurants and hotels, best known for its main restaurant in Tokyo’s Hiroo neighborhood. As the cuisine is decidedly French, this may not be an ideal gourmet experience for those who prefer… Read more »

An unexpected gourmet night in Hiroshima: Nikai Sasaki

Posted 01/20/2021 by Michiyo Nakamoto

The name Hiroshima means different things to different people. For most foreigners, the name of this medium-sized city in southwestern Japan immediately evokes images of the devastation caused by the atomic bomb in World War II. To baseball fans in Japan, the name brings to mind the beloved local team, the Hiroshima Carp. And for car buffs, it is the birthplace of Mazda and its legendary rotary engine. One thing the name Hiroshima does not usually bring to mind –… Read more »

A Weekend Break In Snow Country

Posted 02/11/2020 by Michiyo Nakamoto

Minami Uonuma in southeastern Niigata is an area known for its flavorful rice and deep snow. It is just a short drive north of Yuzawa, where novelist Yasunari Kawabata, who won the 1968 Nobel Prize for Literature, set his famous novel, “Snow Country.” So, when we visited the region in late January, the view from the rotenburo, or open air bath, at our lodgings in Minami Uonuma was not quite what I had expected. The hills in the distance were… Read more »

Yoshino – Sakura Spectacle

Posted 05/06/2019 by Michiyo Nakamoto

The ritual procession made its way slowly along the narrow road that weaves its way up Yoshino Mountain in Nara prefecture, as local residents and tourists alike looked on, transfixed with delight at witnessing such a propitious event. It was the peak of the sakura season in Yoshino, an area famous for its cherry trees, and the long line of mountain priests, men in traditional festival attire or goblin costumes, worshippers and children, was headed to Kinpusenji, the most important… Read more »

Yugawara – Ancient Relics, Hot Springs and the Deep, Blue Sea

Posted 04/16/2019 by Michiyo Nakamoto

Of the many legends about the origins of the hot springs at Yugawara, south of Tokyo, my favorite one tells the story of Gyouki, the high priest of Yakushiji Temple in Nara. According to this tale, while Gyouki was traveling through the country seeking funds for the construction of the Great Buddha of Nara, he met an ailing beggar in the mountains of Hakone, west of Tokyo. Gyouki carried the beggar on his back and, following his directions, descended the… Read more »

History, Hot Springs and a Hamlet from a Bygone Era in Kagoshima

Posted 12/04/2018 by Michiyo Nakamoto

The mountain seemed to be staring at us wherever we went. It sat quietly spewing an almost indiscernible puff of white smoke, dominating the skyline of Kagoshima city and the coastline that stretches from there in an arc around the eponymous bay to its east. The mountain, known as Sakurajima, or Cherry Blossom Island, sits forbiddingly in the bay on the southern coast of the island of Kyushu, one of Japan’s four main islands. It is the country’s most active… Read more »

A Glimpse of Unspoiled Nature in Hokkaido

Posted 10/30/2018 by Michiyo Nakamoto

“There’s a bear over there!,” the young man seated next to me exclaimed as he pointed excitedly at the shore. “It’s right by the fishing nets on the beach, close to the water,” he added, prompting the other 39 passengers on our boat to pull out their binoculars in a bid to glimpse the furry animal we had all been hoping to see that afternoon. We were on one of the small cruise boats that travel along the coast of… Read more »

Taking in Sea, Sand and a Storm in Okinawa

Posted 07/24/2018 by Michiyo Nakamoto

With its aquamarine waters, white-sand beaches, abundant marine life and tropical climate, Okinawa is attracting an ever-growing population of holiday-makers – not just from the rest of Japan but from all over the world. Since I last visited Okinawa more than 20 years ago, the number of tourists visiting Japan’s southernmost prefecture has more than doubled from 4.5m in 2000 to 9.58m in the year to March, 2017, when Okinawa surpassed Hawaii, which drew 9.3m visitors last year. Luxury hotels… Read more »

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