There are very few places in Tokyo that I’ve intentionally avoided, but tonight I finally visited the most prominent of them. Yasukuni Jinja has quite an unsavory reputation, certainly in the West and in certain circles inside Japan too.  It represents a kind of litmus test for what your politics […] Read more

Star-crossed lovers, indeed. Summer means many things in Japan – cicadas, sweltering heat, fireworks, yukata – and the Tanabata Festival is one of the most important to the Japanese people.  Imported from China in the 8th Century, this is possibly the most romantic of all the big Japanese festivals – […] Read more

Matsuri season powers on. I paid a visit to Asakusabashi this evening for the conclusion of the Torigoe Shrine Festival, which is known for having the heaviest mikoshi in Tokyo.  It’s known as the Sengan Mikoshi (“four-ton mikoshi”, these being short tons) and groups of mostly men (and a few […] Read more

And a little Todai, too. If it’s May there must be a matsuri somewhere today – especially if it’s a Saturday.  Today’s happens to be the biggest in Tokyo, the Sanja Matsuri, which draws about 2 million people to Asakusa over three days. I actually visited this matsuri back in […] Read more

More from Kanda Matsuri. I woke up to beautiful sunshine on Sunday morning, so I decided to go back for okawari from the Kanda Matsuri.  Sunday is the day the local neighborhood groups in the “low city” – over 100 of them in total – bring their own mikoshi to […] Read more

In May just about every day has a major festival somewhere in Japan, if you’re willing to look.  But this is one of the big ones. Perfect weather all week, rain on the one day I had something planned – that’s the way it’s been lately in Tokyo.  This week […] Read more

Big drums are big. Here are some pictures and videos from the Kurayami Matsuri at Okunitama Jinja in Fuchu, about 30 minutes by express from Shinjuku.  Sorry about the quality – these were all taken at dusk and at night (Kurayama Matsuri means “Darkness Festival” after all) and failing light […] Read more

There’s more to Narita than just an airport… While most people never get past their terminal, there’s actually a town called Narita a few miles away.  It’s the location of one of the most popular temples in Japan (12 million annual visitors) and has a very attractive temple approach lined […] Read more

Hey, I can’t help myself – they’re pretty. Two more rounds of cherry blossom shots.  The daytime ones are from Shinjuku Gyoen, a large former Imperial garden just steps away from the madness of central Shinjuku.  It was a drizzly and overcast day, which never lends itself to getting good […] Read more