Everyone has no doubt heard of Harajuku and Shibuya, but you may not have heard of Zozotown. This little town is equally as trendy, with over 160 funky shops, an active community of people, and a fun, colorful atmosphere. People come back for the wonderful shopping experience it offers, and it has two million regular…

Combining dining with sightseeing, modern yakatabune (literally home-style boat) offer people a unique way to see the sights via a leisurely cruise along the rivers of the city and Tokyo Bay. The history of yakatabune Dating back to the Heian Era (794-1185) yakatabune were private boats with a large indoor seating area decorated much like…

Not him again! Domination – whether it’s Lance, Roger or Tiger – in sport, it’s a problem. The average fan detests seeing the same winner wheeled out for champagne, kisses and a big novelty cheque time and time again. It makes people switch off, or worse, switch over to a new sport. So what can…

The Art of Tabletop Tea Ceremony Everyone knows what a Japanese tea ceremony is supposed to looks like. A woman in an elegant kimono serves piping hot cups of green tea in a tatami-mat room overlooking a tranquil rock garden. So it is a shock to find out that Rina Fukazawa’s tea class is held…

There can be little doubt that Japan’s greatest contribution to Formula One over the years has been in engineering. Honda-engined cars have won 75 Grands Prix in almost three decades of involvement, and Bridgestone are presently the sole tyre supplier in F1. Japanese drivers have never enjoyed much success, and have generally been ‘pay drivers’…

As Japan attracts more and more tourists, the number of visitors from Muslim countries is also increasing. As the number of people practicing Islam rises, Japanese restaurants and hotels have worked to provide for the halal needs of their guests. But what is halal and where can it be found in Japan? Halal is an…

On April 7, 2016, together with Wining & Dining in Tokyo, Dassai, Japan’s leading sake brewery, held a collaborative kaiseki traditional Japanese cuisine pairing event: Dassai Dinner Vol. 1 at Kafuka of Azabujuban, a kaiseki restaurant nestled in the quiet streets of Azabujuban. Based in Yamaguchi Prefecture and with a history dating back more than…

Erupting from a blue and green surface of friable, volcanic rock, the Japanese islands seem likely at any given moment to burst into flame. Kyushu, the southernmost island in this quivering chain, always seems closer to the fire and hell pits than the rest of the archipelago. Flying above the plains and hills of what…

Whether you’re a longtime vegan or just a curious omnivore, meat-free dining in Japan is always an adventure Impossible. Depressing. Infinitely frustrating. The worst two weeks of my life. These are just some of the phrases visiting vegetarians and vegans have characteristically used to describe their experiences in Japan. It’s a paradox. The Japanese diet…

Geographically closer to Taiwan than mainland Okinawa, those who venture to Okinawa’s outer islands, the Yaeyamas, soon find out that this is the nearest thing to terra incognita they are likely to find in this country’s long and, apparently, not completely tamed archipelago. If Japan has a last frontier, it is here. The Yaeyamas, along…