ansa Odori is an amazing festival held every August in the city of Morioka. The origins of this festival lie in the legend of Mitsuishi, which gave Iwate its name. There was a demon that was causing problems for the villagers but the god Mitsuishi captured the demon and forced it to swear that it […]
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ere you are, the second part of our “virtual tour” of Tokyo’s famous Imperial Palace. Known in Japanese as Kōkyo Higashi Gyoen (皇居東御苑), the Imperial Palace’s east gardens are part of the inner palace, open to the public all year long. Here you will find the remains of the former Edo Castle in the form […]
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anpuku-ji (萬福寺) is the head temple of the Zen Obaku sect and also located in in Uji, near the center of Kyoto. While extremely popular among Japanese people, Manpakuji was created fairly recently in 1661, only 7 years after the Obaku sect, originally from China, came to Japan. Because of its Obaku sect origins, Manpuku-ji’s […]
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ocated not too far from Kosho-ji, and in the northern hills of Uji City, Mimuroto-ji (Mimurotoji), also known as the flower temple, was founded roughly 1,200 years ago. It features not only a gorgeous three-tiered pagoda, but also a nicely designed main hall, built in the early 1800s that houses an image of the thousand-armed […]
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ach year, the Tokyo branch of Yasaka Jinja from Kyoto, located in Hino-Machi, organizes a little matsuri where some of Tokyo’s most famous Iaido schools offer a very rare chance for local people to enjoy the beauty of this martial art. Among these famous schools, one, the Toudou-Renmei School, dominated the whole matsuri with impressive […]
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oday’s video marks the beginning of a new series of content about Japan where we will bring you along with us when we are walking around Tokyo and other areas. Unlike other videos we used to upload in the past, and that we will continue to upload in the future, these new “Everyday slice of […]
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iho no Matsubara is by far the best place in Shizuoka to enjoy an amazing view of Mt. Fuji. While we are planning to publish a full-length video soon that covers this amazing park, we could not resist shooting a pair of 10 minute long relaxing videos just for you. So without further ado, again, […]
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osho-ji Temple (Kōshōji) was originally built in 1233 and at a different location in Kyoto. It wasn’t until 1648 that it was moved to its current location in Uji, by Nagai Noamasa. Belonging to the Soto Zen branch of Japanese Buddhism, Kosho-ji is famous for its Heian-period statue of Kannon. The other well-known attraction is […]
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ocated an hour or so up north of Tokyo, in Chichibu Saitama, Chichibu Distillery is Japan’s next generation of whisky distillery. It was founded in 2004 by Ichiro Akuto and the first new Japanese distillery opened since 1973! Ichiro Akuto and his team are, despite the small size of the distillery, winning rave reviews from […]
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eatured on every single 10-yen coin found across across Japan, Byodoin or Byōdō-in/Byōdōin is one of the most striking examples of Jodo, Buddhist Pure Land sect, architecture! Together with its small, yet beautiful garden, Byōdō-in represents the Pure Land Paradise and was very influential on later temple construction. Unlike many other temples, Byōdō-in was in […]
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oyasu Pier is an old fisherman’s pier located in Yokohama’s busy industrial complex. Despite looking like a “ghost town” with its many shipwrecks and what clearly seem to be heavily polluted waters, Koyasu Pier is in fact a thriving fishing spot with many fish swimming around. The pier is well-known as it is used for […]
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reated in the seventies, COEDO is a craft beer made in Saitama prefecture, and more precisely in Kawagoe, one hour north of Tokyo by train. The peculiarity of COEDO beers, is that they are made of Japanese sweet potatoes! COEDO was not always in the beer-brewing business, starting instead as an agricultural company specializing in […]
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