You could quite easily plan a travel itinerary around Japan by plotting the location of its teahouses. Where there is culture, you might say, there is tea. Eclipsed by the grandeur of mountains, even the most hubristic will feel humbled. It’s something similar to the willing, shrinking of the ego that takes place when we…

In his early teens, Kaido Hoovelson played basketball. Like many other kids in his village in Estonia, he would have grown up watching the great Michael Jordan strut his stuff with the Chicago Bulls. By his later teens, his above-average size started to become apparent, and Kaido moved into the world of high school sumo….

It’s difficult to characterize Asakusa and Ueno in a single word. One that is often used to describe them, shitamachi, is often translated as “low city.” This term refers to the area’s less-than-heavenly elevation along the banks of the Sumida River. While these Tokyo neighborhoods were once the epicenter of entertainment, culture, and modernity, there’s…

In the north of the country and in the mountains it still feels like winter: the snow-whitened peaks are clear against the blue sky and the nights cold enough to see your breath on the dark air. Along the coast and to the south the plum trees are blooming or have bloomed, but up here…

Jasmine sat on her living room floor covered in fake gorilla fur. She sneezed — twice. What she really wanted to do, though, was cry as she held a crumpled sheet of music in her right hand, and a very incomplete costume in the other. In less than a week, she had to play a…

Trivia plays a big part in our lives. From wanting to correctly answer questions posed on TV quiz shows, to classroom study needed for a test (but unlikely to be used again), to lookin’ good in front of that angel in the bar. Trivia, facts – or factoids, as some are now referred as –…

For several centuries, Asakusa (located in northeastern Tokyo) served as the cultural – if not political – playground of the capital. This small fishing village was initially situated on the outskirts of the city. It originally grew up around Senso-ji Temple and the adjacent Asakusa Shrine, two houses of worship that were also founded by…

Kohama, a small island of just 436 inhabitants at last count, follows the classic small island layout of the Yaeyamas: a functional, largely uninhabited port, a circular road, and a village located smack-bang in the middle of the island – a sensible precaution against typhoons and inundations. Kohama village is a classic study in small…

It sounds like a modern-day fairy tale. A beautiful girl with a less-than-privileged upbringing somehow finds herself transported to a distant land, where her angelic voice earns her fame and fortune. Though Himeka may not yet be a household name, this Quebec native is poised to be the next big thing on the Japanese pop…

The night is cool, but warm enough to feel that the country has shaken off winter’s chill and that spring is well and truly here. Under the frothy waves of blossoms the air is festive, bursting with the sounds of conversation, the tipsy laughter of other picnickers, and occasional bursts of song. Above, the trees…