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Takato Tamagami’s Favorite Things

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

We asked Takato Tamagami, a Tokyo-based architect, about his favorite places, pastimes and more. Where do you live and why did you choose that neighborhood? I live with my wife and two children in Hatsudai, which is where my office is. What I like about this neighborhood is that it’s easy to get to both Shibuya and Shinjuku, so it’s very convenient and there are lots of places to eat. Hatsudai also retains the atmosphere of shitamachi, densely populated old Tokyo… Read more »

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Staring Out to Sea at Hiramatsu Atami

Posted 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 »

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Yakushi Onsen – Time Travel Back to a Traditional Way of Life

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

For many people living in Japan today, the sight of smoke swirling over a thatched roof or fish grilling over a hearth is likely to stir a strong sense of nostalgia for a more peaceful and simpler way of life. Such idyllic scenes have all but disappeared from contemporary life, but Hatago, a hot spring resort in Gunma Prefecture, has brought together several traditional houses to form a mini-village reminiscent of a lost Japan. Located in Yakushi Onsen, the grounds… Read more »

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A Weekend Break In Snow Country

Posted 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 »

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Of samurai and storehouses – Aizu Wakamatsu and Kitakata.

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

On the morning of Oct. 23, 1868, 19 young soldiers between the ages of 15 and 17 took their own lives on Mt Iimori in the castle town of Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukushima prefecture. It was the year after Japan’s military government had been overthrown and the Aizu domain, which rebelled against the new government, was under siege. The young soldiers, the sons of Aizu samurai who were members of the Byakkotai (White Tiger Force), had been forced to flee from… Read more »

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Karuizawa – A Tale of Two Shoppers

Posted by Fran Kuzui

The day felt like somewhere between late winter and early spring as we dashed to Tokyo station and jumped on an early Shinkansen train to the mountain resort town of Karuizawa hoping for some retail therapy and much needed relaxation in hotspring baths at Hoshino Onsen. It was the perfect time to visit without the crowds of spring, summer and autumn. We’d heard about the infamous two-hour taxi ride through unreasonable seasonal traffic from Karuizawa station to the outer reaches… Read more »

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Kumano Kodo – Discovering mysteries of the Kii peninsula

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

The mountain path is deep, dark and dense with trees that send their gnarled roots over the verdant forest floor. Some of the moss-covered trunks shoot up to the skies while others, massive and aged, seem to merge with hulking rocks that stand in the way of all but the most intrepid traveler. We are standing at the entrance to an ancient pilgrimage route – one of seven trails that have for centuries led the faithful into these forbidding mountains… Read more »

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

Posted 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 »

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

Posted 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 »

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A Glimpse of Unspoiled Nature in Hokkaido

Posted 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 »

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A Soothing Summer Walk in the Oirase River Gorge

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

Attracted by the prospect of a ramble by a mountain stream shaded by lush trees, I planned a trip to Oirase, a scenic area of Aomori Prefecture at the northern tip of Honshu in May. In my view this is one of the best months to travel in terms of the climate, but the weather forecast grew increasingly bleak as the date of my trip approached: overcast and cold, was the prediction, with temperatures expected to plunge to near zero…. Read more »

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Kinugawa Onsen

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

The Kinugawa River weaves its way south from Japan’s highest marshland, more than 2,000 meters above sea level, in a remote hinterland where Tochigi and Gunma prefectures meet. As it meanders south, the river skirts some of Japan’s best-known sites, such as the eponymous Kinugawa Onsen hot springs, Kawachi Onsen and Nikko before spilling into the larger Tone River 177 kilometers from its source. Kinugawa is better known for its tendency to flood — as it did most recently in… Read more »