Webmaster found Japanese Helwingia (hanaikada, Helwingia japonica) when went hiking before last week. Hanaikada is an indigenous shrub in Japan. The similar species (same genus) distribute in East Asia from Himalayan region to Southern China. It widely distributes in forests in hilly and mountainous area, but is not very common. Curiously enough, this shrubby species has flowers… Read more →
The second spot report on craft beers is that of Tama-no-megumi Beer produced by Ishikawa Brewery (Ishikawa-shuzo). Tama-no-megumi means “the blessing of Tama” which is the name of an area where the brewery is located and also the name of a river in the area. Access: Tokyo (local train 0:52) Haijima (walk 0:15) @ A bottle of Tama-no-megumi beer… Read more →
Tsutsuji azalea is now flowering. Some buds of azalea Azalea is very popular in Japan. In fact, azalea can be seen everywhere, in parks, gardens and even on road sides. If you are traveling in Japan now, you will easily find azalea flowers. Azalea flowers last much longer than cherry flowers. Please enjoy azalea flowers! … Read more →
“Zen” is the name of one sect of Buddhism and sometimes refers to Zen meditation (zazen). There are some 75,000 Buddhist temples in Japan, among which some 2,000 are those of Zen Sect. There are three principal schools of Zen Sect in Japan. Those are Soto School, Rinzai School and Obaku School. (Obaku School was branched from Rinzai School.)… Read more →
Do you know zazen? Zazen is a kind of meditation practiced in Zen school of Buddhism. Some Zen temples hold zazen sessions for citizens on regular basis. Webmaster participated in an English zazen session at Soji-ji Temple last week. Soji-ji Temple holds an English zazen session almost once a month. Access: Tokyo (local train 0:27) Tsurumi (walk 0:07) @… Read more →
Cherry blossom front has shifted toward north. Now, we have wisteria blossom in the central region of Japan. In the early April, the buds of wisteria were still small. But, those were growing gradually. And finally, started blooming Wisteria is one of popular horticulture trees (vines) in Japan. If you travel in Japan in this season,… Read more →
Webmaster visited Horai Bridge before last week. Access: Tokyo (shinkansen 1:15) Shizuoka (local train 0:28) Shimada (walk 0:20) @, or Tokyo (local train 3:20) Shimada (walk 0:20) @ This bridge is 897m long and listed in Guinness Book of Record as the longest pedestrian wooded bridge. Only pedestrians and bicycles are allowed to cross. The… Read more →
Webmaster visited Kunowaki Suspension Bridge before last week. This bridge is located near Shiogo Station of Oigawa Railway (Oigawa-tetsudo). Access: Tokyo (shinkansen 1:15) Shizuoka (local train 0:30) Kanaya (local train 0:50) Shiogo (walk 0:05) @ Oigawa Railway starts from Kanaya Station. Oigawa Railway is a single track. The train went toward the upper stream of Oi-gawa… Read more →
Webmaster visited Endo Shellfish Museum (Endo-kairui-hakubutsukan) in Manazuru Town before last week. Access: Tokyo (local train 1:35) Manazuru (bus 0:20) Cape Manazuru @, or Tokyo (shinkansen 0:37) Odawara (local train 0:13) Manazuru (bus 0:20) Cape Manazuru @ Admission:￥300 for adult. Closed on Thursday and year-end holidays This museum is located on the tip of Manazuru Peninsular. … Read more →
Do you know Hakone-yoseki-zaiku? This is a Japanese traditional craft of wood mosaic (marquetry). (This photo is cited from www.yoseki-honma.com/) Webmaster visited Honma Wood Mosaic Museum (Honma-yoseki-bijutsukan). It is a small private museum run by Honma Mokkosho which is one of the craft studios of Hakone Wood Mosaic. Access: Tokyo (shinkansen 0:37, or local train 1:15) Odawara… Read more →