As the former imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto holds a special place in Japanese history and architecture. It was one of the few cities in Japan spared from the intense firebombing during WWII since it was deemed an important cultural asset.  Because of this, numerous old-fashioned temples and shrines, raked pebble gardens and private teahouses…

There aren’t that many neighborhoods of Tokyo that bring to mind the image of a single person as much as the Shibamata neighborhood. The working-class folk from Adachi, Sumida, Edogawa, and Arakawa go so far as to refer to this area in Tokyo’s extreme northeast as “downtown” – their own status in the eyes of…

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…

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…

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…

Culture is a fluid thing. It washes through history, sweeping up customs and practices on the periphery and incorporating them into the aptly named mainstream. It ripples between classes, seeps across borders, and, like all liquids, flows from the top down. Japanese history can be looked at as a series of waves of adoption and…

I always look forward to our family’s annual Disney pilgrimage, and I’m never disappointed. As someone who neither likes roller coasters or Mickey Mouse, let me explain the many ways that Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea appeal to me. Disney parks are pop cultural museums. A 50-year-old artist friend once said her dream project would have…

It is a little-known fact that the Thermophis baileyi (perhaps more commonly known as the hot spring snake) gets its warmth and energy not from the sun, but from slithering in and out of the thermal waters near Lhasa, Tibet. I’ve often imagined what it would be like to be one of these snakes, pondering…