Culture Iris Festival at Daian-zenji Temple Takako Sakamoto At Daian-zenji Temple, beautiful irises in full bloom welcomed me. There was soothing music in the air, coming from a Chinese ..
Activities Tsurumine Park's Gorgeous Azaleas Reiko Senna The man who ordered the azalea showed three fingers to mean 300 bushes, but the gardener took it to mean three freight cars of azaleas...
Culture A Hokusai on the Ceiling Robert Grey Ganshoin Temple, located in northern Nagano's town of Obuse, contains one of the best kept local secrets around -- a large..
Activities Meet the Real Wasabi in Nagano Suwannee Payne Many people might think the wasabi we eat at Japanese restaurants or the green wasabi powder that has to be mixed with water i..
Transportation JR East: From Kanagawa to Matsumoto Jerome Lee The route from Nagatsuta Station (Kanagawa) to Matsumoto Station (Nagano) is completely covered by the JR East pass, and visitors..
Activities Forest Adventure Mt Fuji, Yamanashi Jessica A Paje Trepidation, achievement, laughter and excitement: Welcome to Forest Adventure at Mt Fuji in the Yamanashi prefecture. The Adv..
Shopping Echizen Soba Village Jerome Lee Echizen Soba Village is located in Echizen city of Fukui Prefecture, where visitors can learn to make soba, view the history of..
Food Hoeijuku Tenohana Cafe Meredith Lescoe A small, ambitious group in rural Fukui proves that it's still possible to build a life, home, and business from scratch t..