First make your way on down the stone steps, past the trickling pond and small garden hemmed in by cut logs. The tatami room is just beyond the wooden entry gate up ahead. Watch your head as you pass beneath. Now move inside and have a seat on the mat. Turn off that mobile phone and,…

The kimono is one of Japan’s most iconic symbols, its colors and designs exemplifying Japanese cultural sensibilities and aesthetics. Lesser known, however, is that, the kimono originated as an undergarment. The predecessor to today’s kimono is a robe called the kosode (literally, “small sleeve openings”). The kosode first came into its own as an outer…

Looking after a bonsai is not as simple as it first appears, writes Jonathon Walsh. If you think bonsai is nothing more than a baby tree parked in a pot, think again. In fact, dig a little deeper into this ancient Japanese hobby and you will see that there is much more to bonsai than…

The farmer who has dropped by the local soba store, a rickety old building that also doubles as a general store and post office, is an expansive character, speaking fondly and at Homeric length about the area in which he lives.  “In our town we have three treasures,” he says, taking a late morning sip…

TREE by NAKED Yoyogi Park is the artistic cuisine produced by creative company NAKED Inc, the company behind such projects as the 2014 Tokyo Station Projection Mapping Show “TOKYO HIKARI VISION,” Enoshima Aquariums “Night Aquarium” and the pre-cherry blossom viewing show “FLOWERS by NAKED.” Projections, virtual reality, sensors, smoke, scents, illuminations, music and seasonal ingredients…

Ise Jingu shrine in Mie Prefecture is considered the most important Shinto shrine in Japan with more than 2,000 years of history. Jingu is described in the oldest Japanese texts, “Kojiki” and “Nihinshoki,” which were edited about 1,300 years ago. Rather than a single shrine, Ise Jingu is better described as complex consisting of many…

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…