Posted in Events, Festivals, Traditional Culture, Travel, Trivia, tagged hikoboshi, japan, orihime, star festival, tanabata, tenkou on July 6, 2008 | No Comments »
A few years back, I went on a trip to Sendai for the Tanabata Festival. At that time, I was only interested because of the colorful decorations that I heard were so famous. I badgered a Japanese friend to accompany me, and she was so nice she’d even explained everything I thought there was to [...]
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The next week is going to be quite busy (as the past two have been…), so I’m afraid my non-writing streak will continue for a while longer. I apologize, but it is the Golden Week and I hope at the end of it I will be equipped with stories to share and pictures to show.
While [...]
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I just went to see the grandmommy of shidare-zakuras… it was literally the grandmother of a 150-year-old weeping cherry blossom tree in Fukushima and the parent of another several hundred-year-old cherry tree in the same area. The Takizakura of Miharu is about 1000 years old. According to our tour guide, the hollow trunk of the [...]
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The Hanami Season is not over yet! For those die-hard cherry blossom fans like me, Tohoku is the place to visit in the coming weeks. I’ve been longingly looking at a poster on my station’s wall featuring the places in the Tohoku and Yamanashi-Nagano area that will be in bloom from the middle of April [...]
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One of my favorite destinations in Tokyo for the Cherry Blossoms is Chidorigafuchi. I know I have a lot of favorites, but if I had to choose between Ueno Park, Sumida Park, Yoyogi Park, etc. etc. I’d choose to go to Chidorigafuchi and Kitanomaru Park. While most parks allow viewers to bring their mats [...]
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Higashiyama in Kyoto is another favorite destination of mine… The first time I visited it was autumn, and it was beautiful but visiting the next spring was even more memorable. Everything was just so fresh. The doors of the Chion-in were open, and I felt like it was a sign of spring.
Higashiyama is in Eastern [...]
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Posted in Events, Festivals, Travel, tagged japan, kyoto, path of philosophy, philosopher's path, philosopher's walk, tetsugaku no michi, Travel, 哲学の道 on March 28, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Philosopher’s Path, known in Japanese as Tetsugaku no Michi (哲学の道), is one of the best places to view Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto. The path connects Kyoto’s Silver Pavillion, otherwise known as Ginkakuji (銀閣寺), with Nanzenji (南禅寺). It is so named for the philosopher Nishida Kitaro, who walked there everyday. It is a three-hour walk.
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For those looking to enjoy Yozakura (夜桜, lit-up cherry blossoms), there are literally dozens of places to visit in the next two weeks. Below are some of the more popular ones in the Kanto Area.
Chidorigafuchi, Kitanomaru Park and Yasukuni Shrine
Chidorigafuchi is the North Eastern moat of the Imperial Palace. Together with Kitanomaru Park, it is [...]
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Nagatoro is located in Northern Saitama, a very remote tourist destination on the quaint Chichibu Line. I headed there with some friends to see the last of the Plum Blossoms. We originally meant to take the Steam Locomotive train, the Paleo Express, but since the train only opened a few days ago for the new [...]
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My Kyoto Guidebook says:
Flowers bloom throughout the year at Heian Shrine’s beautiful gardens, home of the Jidai Matsuri Festival.
Heian Jingu was built in 1895 to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the founding on Kyoto. It is dedicated to the first, Kammu, and last, Komei, emperors to reign in Kyoto. Heian Jingu is most noted for [...]
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