New Year’s at Nishinomiya Shrine: Photo Gallery
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This article is brought to you through a partnership between the Heart of Japan blog, a project by the Hyogo International Association, and the Hyogo Times. Boasting 10,000 candles placed all over the town, Takasago Lantern Festival (é«˜ç ‚ä¸‡ç¯ç¥, Takasago Mantousai) also features jazz and traditional Japanese music performances along with specially illuminated historical buildings, temples…
2012. A new year begins, and for me, an American in Japan, it looks like it’s going to be quite a ride. The yen is up, the dollar down. The Tohoku region is still picking up what the earthquake/tsunami left behind. The world scrambles against global warming and an uncertain economy. The ancient Mayans predicted…
Showcasing the most stimulating independent short films from across the world, Future Shorts is the biggest international short film festival of its kind. Founded in London in 2003 the festival is now celebrated around the globe with over 1700 screenings, across 6 continents in more than 350 cities in 90 different countries – that’s one…
This temple’s rock garden was designed to represent the beach where a teenager was killed in single combat. His death is one of the most famous in Japanese history. His killer renounced his samurai life soon after and became a Buddhist monk. This place has some serious education going on…any guesses?
In April, when the snow has melted away, there is one place you can count on for a mountain of snow. The Northern Japanese alps are the steepest and considered by some to be the most beautiful in Japan. The Alpine Route, as its highest point, has an altitude of 2500 metres. The route can…
As I was lazily flipping through my Facebook photos, I came upon some shots that I couldn’t recognize. The guy in the shot was absolutely fabulous, corky, was wearing a chic pink-checkered-printed shirt with a denim pant and recently faded out Mohawk haircut. He was bright-eyed and bushy tailed, some would say. He had a…