Ive visited Daoji a number of times,its one of my favorite temples. The gardens are wonderful regardless of the time of year, they look stunning, but each time it looks so different, depending on the season. It’s a working Soto Zen temple that is more than 600 years old – established in 1404. Within… Read More Daoji Temple, Kurobane, Tochigi
Tanakaya onsen Hotel, also known as Oami onsen is a favorite with our group and we go there every year and stay overnight for a night in January. This year there were 20 of us, so a little bit rowdy & noisy, but they welcome us back each year, so I guess we can’t be too bad.. From the… Read More Tanakaya (Oami) Onsen Hotel in Shiobara, Tochigi prefecture
Mashiko is a small town in south east Tochigi that is famous for its pottery. There are hundreds of potters living and working here and almost 400 different styles in this one small town in Tochigi. I’ve written about it before, but each time you go, you discover more and more and its charm becomes… Read More Mashiko Pottery Fair November 2014
Kiyomizu-dera (The temple of clear water) is a historic temple that was established in 778, prior to Kyoto becoming the capital of Japan. Like so many buildings in Japan it has burnt down and been rebuilt many times in its history. The majority of the current buildings were rebuilt by the third Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu during… Read More Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto
Fushimi Inari is an important Shinto shrine, south of Kyoto, Japan. It is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. The shrine is at the bottom of Inari mountain and includes amazing red gates (Torii) covering a trail that extends around 4 km up & down the mountain. The red Torii… Read More Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto
Kinkaku-ji is a beautiful Buddhist temple in Kyoto, the name translates as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. It is one of Kyoto’s historic monuments and definitely worth a visit. It dates back to 1397 when it was owned by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, when he died it was made into a Zen temple by his… Read More Kinkaku-ji, Golden Pavilion Temple, Kyoto
Tochigi City, is a city in the South of Tochigi Prefecture, actually not the capital despite its name (Utsunomiya is the capital). Tochigi city is well know because it was an important town on the road between Tokyo and Nikko in the Edo period. (1600-1867) Kaido were ancient roads in the Edo period established to… Read More Tochigi City, Tochigi prefecture,.
Ashikaga flower Park is a beautiful Japanese garden in the southern part of Tochigi Prefecture that has been developed to have a number of different floral themes during the year. Wisteria are called fuji in Japanese and Ashikaga is one of the best places in Japan to see Fuji.. One large Wisteria tree is over… Read More Ashikaga Flower Garden
Visitors here are often surprised about what there is to do here in Otawara.. Its not so well known as many other regions in Japan and maybe you need a car to see many of the hidden gems.. I’ve been here 2 1/2 years and I’m still finding interesting and fun things in the… Read More 24 hours in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture
Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo, and with a population of 3.7 million is the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. It is on Tokyo Bay, a little south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu.It is… Read More Yokohama
Just Life in Japan 