Japan Travel Tips & Hidden Gems
Last week, when writing about Takasaki City in Gunma Prefecture, I referenced Ikaho Onsen a number of times. After hitting publish, though, I realized that I never actually wrote an article on this traditional onsen town. While I have prior…
Nowadays, thanks to the likes of Kusatsu Onsen and other Instagrammable hot springs, Gunma Prefecture shows up on the digital radar of overseas visitors far more often than it used to in years gone by. Still, many people who come…
Let’s be frank. When it comes to springtime flowers in Japan, the cherry blossoms steal all of the limelight. Widely considered to be iconic of the country’s very year, millions of tourists flock to Japan to see these pink pretties.…
In recent years, I’ve been on something of a crusade to promote some of Japan’s lesser-known cherry blossom spots. You see, now that the pandemic is well behind us, places like Yoyogi Park and Chidorigafuchi are so painfully packed with…
Right now, it’s cherry blossom season in Japan, and it honestly feels like the entire world is here to soak in spring’s natural beauty. As someone who can’t stand crowds, though, the swarms of international visitors that descend on the…
I originally visited the city of Kumagaya in Saitama Prefecture as part of a five-day tour in the lead-up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Arranged by the powers that be, the objective of this FAM trip was to promote…
In the fall of 2024, I was invited by the powers that be to join a two-day monitor tour. Our destination was a region known as Hanbara, nestled in the semi-rural town of Aikawa. Located in northern Kanagawa Prefecture, this…
As most overseas tourists are already aware, the peak bloom for Japan’s cherry blossoms typically falls in late March or early April for places like Tokyo. However, this timeframe applies primarily to the Somei Yoshino variety of cherry blossoms. What…
While it’s true that Yokohama is indeed getting a bit more popular than it used to be, in many ways, the city is still something of a hidden gem. You see, despite being under half an hour away from Tokyo…
Since Japan became one of the hottest travel destinations in the world, the collection of shrines and temples in the Nikko area has skyrocketed in popularity. Awarded the honor of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, landmarks like…
For some time now, I’ve been escaping to Chiba Prefecture whenever I needed a break from the madness. Most famously, the seaside town of Katsuura saved me from complete and utter burnout back in 2022, and ever since, Chiba has…
One summer, we were having our regular Baemeshi (a media company I set up with Kyodo PR, my former employer) for the month of July with the now-chairman when he mentioned that he had just recently made a pilgrimage to…
“Why the hell am I watching Initial D… On TikTok of all place!?!?” I was 45 minutes into a rather bad doom scroll, and the Algorithm Allfather had somehow decided that I was into an anime about car racing (I…
Welcome back to another off-of-the-beaten-path adventure in Japan. This time, we’ll be taking a look at Oiwa Shrine. Located up in the northernmost part of Ibaraki Prefecture, this sanctum has existed deep in the mountains of the Hitachi Alps since…
Today, I’d like to introduce you to yet another part of Japan that is amazing during the springtime. Locally known as the Kumagaya Sakura Tsutsumi, this hidden gem can be found up in Saitama Prefecture along the Arakawa riverbank. Every…