English Not only beautiful in winter by day, the Ogimachi village of Shirakawa-Go (Shirakawago), turns on the lights at night for a few days each January, to become a life-size Light Sculpture. Magical? In pictures the answer is most definitely yes, but in real life the place is crowded with so many tourists, it resembles […]
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English Declared a UNESCO world heritage site since 1995, Shirakawa-Go (Shirakawago) is one of the hottest Japanese tourist spots that is hard to miss. Located in the remote mountains of Gifu prefecture, Shirakawa-Go is famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses with some as old as 250 years. Shirakawa-Go’s most famous village, and the one featured […]
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English The Gateway to Mt Nantai, is how you could sum-up the Futarasan Chugushi Shrine. More modest that most of Nikko’s temples, the Futarasan Chugushi Shrine is in fact two places in one. The first, Chugushi Shrine, is located on the shores of the Chuzenji-ko with the Futarasan Shrine located on top of Mt Nantai […]
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English A few weeks ago we uploaded a small video of Lake Yuno-ko during a strong snow storm or blizzard (take your pick) which prevented us to take the time to shoot a nice video of the place, its bridge and its waterfall… So we decided to wait for better weather conditions in order to […]
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English In many western countries, the chrysanthemum, or Kiku, are flowers used for funerals. In Japan, the Kiku has a very different meaning: It is the country’s official symbol. The Japanese monarchy is referred to as the “Chrysanthemum Throne”. The imperial crest uses a stylized version of the Kiku blossom. You can even find the […]
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English If you are looking for something different to visit in Tokyo, I would highly recommend Yanaka, with unfortunately the exception of Yanaka Ginza (Soon on TokyoStreetView). Yanaka is one of the places in Tokyo that has been frozen in time and that could, at least for us foreigners, be a bit weird. Indeed Yanaka […]
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English Nikko is one of Tochigi prefecture most famous places, known for its huge cultural history, temples, waterfalls and scenery. Among Nikko’s wonders both the lake Yuno-ko and the Senjogahara Marshland are a ‘must-see’ all year long. A good friend of mine (http://blog.benoa.net/) who also happens to be a professional photographer decided to make the […]
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English By far our favorite shopping spot in Tokyo, Daikanyama is also one of the trendiest spot that many tourists ignore when visiting Japan. With respect to Omotesando, Daikanyama offers a far better shopping experience with trendier shops and restaurants than the mythical and usually overcrowded Japanese avenue. Granted Daikanyama may look like a maze […]
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English Jigokudani Yaen-koen, known for its many onsen (hot spring baths), is located in the Yokoyu valley of Nagano prefecture. Like the humans that come to bathe, there is a large population of Japanese Macaques (“snow monkeys”) that also bathe in the hot springs. First opened in 1964, Jigokudani Yaen-koen and more precisely Jigokudani Onsen […]
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