Author Archives: Jonelle Patrick

July 14

Where To See The Most Divine Lotus Blossoms In Tokyo

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Most flower seasons in Japan are like hitting the jackpot, but lotus season is more of a treasure hunt. Instead of fields of I-can’t-believe-my-eyes color, you have to hunt for the sublime pinkness amid a sea of green. But when you find it… Lotus flowers open at first light, are at their best from about […]

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July 14

Is This Mameshiba Cake Too Cute To Eat?

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I was in the Matsuya Ginza food hall stocking up on peanut snacks, when I saw this. I tried to walk past it. I tried. To be honest, I was sort of worried that a baumkuchen cake in the shape of a tiny shiba inu might be too cute to eat. But my curiousity got […]

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July 13

Things I Did Not Know You Could Do With A Lotus Leaf

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This morning I was at the Sankei-en garden in Yokohama at the ungodly hour of 7:00 a.m. to see their field of lotus in bloom, but it was the bonus attractions that really made my day! Sankei-en has special early weekend opening hours during The Season, because (who knew?) lotus flowers only bloom in the […]

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July 10

Nemesis, Thy Name Is Squid Guts

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I was in Kamakura today, happily waiting for the arrival of my sesame soba and a mountain of crispy burdock root… …when they delivered my beer along with the usual unwanted  (yet always-delivered) “beer snack.” Just my luck, it was my most un-favorite appetizer. Squid guts. All right. Ugh. Don’t be That Foreigner. Get it over with. […]

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July 05

The Enchanted Hydrangea Forest

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The spring rainy season isn’t the most delightful time to be in Japan…unless you’re hiking through a shady forest, surrounded by heaps and heaps of blue hydrangeas! Minamisawa Ajisai Mountain’s groomed trails wind up the side of a mountain, through a silent and stately cedar forest that’s robed in countless poufs of cooling blue and […]

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July 02

Under The Umbrella Sky

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If there’s a better way to celebrate Japan’s summer rainy season, show me! This is the latest environmental art exhibit at Metsa Village, the same place where Digitized Lakeside and Forest happened last winter. And best of all…it’s free! This path is the entrance to the paying areas of Moomin Village and other attractions, but […]

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June 26

The Cat Shaming Vending Machine

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How did you guess that the moment I caught a glimpse of this vending machine filled with cat shaming gachagacha, all my laundry coins would be history? There was only one problem… I got the first four before running out of coins, but how could I not come back to try for the mystery cat? […]

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