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Another trip to Kamakura - Hokokuji (the bamboo temple) and Hase Dera - Part 2
This is part 2 of a blog post about a recent day-trip down to Kamakura. You can find part 1 here. We left Hokokuji temple and waited at the bus stop on the main road nearby and within 5 minutes a bus...
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Best of - part 1: Japanese Nature
Work has been keeping me pretty occupied recently so I have not been able to get anywhere for the blog so I decided to do the first in a "Best of" series. I will add to this series from time to time...
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Gyoza Stadium - Sunshine City, Ikebukuro
I have mentioned numerous times here that the Japanese love their food, adore it and even build food themed attractions to celebrate their food. I have written about one such "food theme park", the...
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Immerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman (part 1)
I have a folder in my bookmarks on my computer titled "blog places". Whenever I stumble across something that looks interesting and looks worth a visit I save it there. I often forget that the folder...
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Immerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman (part 2)
This is part 2 of a recent trip I took to Gujo Hachiman. You can find part 1 here.Gujo Hachiman castle is not a particularly old castle (relative to other Japanese castles), however it is quite...
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Immerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman: a true traditional...
This is part 3 of a recent trip to Gujo Hachiman in Gifu. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.We got back to the ryokan and checked in. I had chosen this place because of the beautiful old style...
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Immerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman: a true traditional...
This is part 4 in a series of blog posts about a recent trip to Gujo Hachiman. You can find part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here.It was getting close to dinner time, so we ventured back out to the...
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Immerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman: a true traditional...
This is part 5 in a series of posts about a recent trip to Gujo Hachiman in Gifu. I recommend reading part 1, 2, 3 and 4 first.We rose early the next morning at 8:30 (well, it is early for me....) and...
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Immerse yourself in old town charm - Gujo Hachiman: a true traditional...
This is part 6 in a series of posts about a recent trip to Gujo Hachiman in Gifu. I recommend reading part 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 first.Morning broke the next day and it was time to have a last breakfast in...
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Step Back in Time - Nihon Minkaen Folk House museum
First of all, sorry for the long break. I took a couple of months off of visiting places for the blog. Work got a little crazy busy and also my sister and her partner came to visit around Christmas...
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Perfect tempura at the Hilton Hotel Odaiba
One of my students, Natsumi worked at one of the restaurants in the Hilton Hotel Odaiba and I had been meaning to go there one of these days to eat at her restaurant. Well she recently told me that...
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A nostalgic hot spring hideaway - Shima Onsen (四万温泉) Part 1
Last month I was on the train going to work and I suddenly thought "I want to go on a hot spring trip!" so I whipped out my mobile phone and did a quick search for onsen (hot spring) near Tokyo. A few...
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A nostalgic hot spring hideaway - Shima Onsen (四万温泉) Part 2
This is part 2 of a blog post about a recent trip to Shima Onsen. You can find part 1 here. I woke up the next morning to a breakfast of champions minus the obligatory natto (the lovely and thoughtful...
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A nostalgic hot spring hideaway - Shima Onsen (四万温泉) Part 3
This is part 3 of a write-up about a recent trip to Shima Onsen. You can find part 1 here and part 2 here. I woke up from my nap feeling totally refreshed and ready for dinner. I decided to head back...
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The original katsu curry (かつカレ) - Ginza Swiss (銀座スイス)
One of my favourite meals (although it's only a "sometimes" food as too much consumption can have a negative impact on the waistline...) is called katsu curry (katsu is breaded, deep fried pork...
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Tour of a Japanese sake (日本酒) brewery - Ishikawa sake brewery (石川酒造)
My sister Kylie and her partner Paul along with 2 of their friends recently came over to Japan for a week and before coming I asked them what they would like to do while here. One of their requests...
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Dining at an icon - oyakodon at Tamahide
It's not often that you hear of a restaurant that has been open for 257 years (at the time of writing, having opened in 1760). It's even less often that you get a chance to eat at such a restaurant....
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One of Japan's top 100 castles - Hachioji castle (八王子城)
At the end of the last post I left a message inviting people to leave me a message with a letter of the English alphabet and a number. What I would then do would be to find a train line in the Greater...
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Okinawan gourmet - Charlie's tacos in Naha (taco rice)
I recently had an opportunity to go to Okinawa (the southernmost islands of the Japanese archipelago) with my friend Tetsuya. Now, Tetsuya is from Okinawa and has been there many times as well as...
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No ramen no life - Tokyo ramen show
I have a very good friend who I used to work with called Jorge. He, like me, is a ramen lover. Jorge, however, takes it to a whole nother level. After Jorge left Japan, he moved to Brussels,...
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