Category Archives: Just…Beautiful

August 17

The Last Art Aquarium

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Art Aquarium, I’m going to miss you! <sob!> Yes, this is the last year they’re going to produce this eye-popping cross between goldfish and SFX, and they’re making up for the last few lackluster seasons by putting on the equivalent of a fireworks grand finale! And they added one installation that put a crink in […]

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August 13

When The Gods Decide To Plant A Lotus Garden, They Don’t Mess Around

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It was construction as usual in the town of Gyoda, until an excavation for a new building hit a layer of lotus plants that had been dead for thousands of years. They didn’t think much of it, until the rain came, and the ancient lotus seeds began to sprout. When the plants bloomed, the flowers […]

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August 07

If Only Japanese Rock Gardens Were Filled With Cooling Mist & Illuminations…

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Oh. Wait. At Tokyo Midtown this summer, they are! On the lawn that hosts those amazing winter illuminations, they’ve constructed a wide wooden veranda enclosing a “rock garden,” complete with clouds of mist and a fireworks-themed lightshow. And the best part is, you can sit and dangle your feet for as long as you like, […]

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July 24

Japanese Fireworks: The Many-Splendored Fire Flowers Of Summer

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Fireworks happen all over Tokyo in the months of July and August, and if you haven’t been to see them yet, go. Last weekend I went to the Adachi Fireworks Festival (13,000 gorgeous explosions!) but they’re just the first in a parade of splendor, and the biggest is yet to come. And even though this […]

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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 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 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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