The hundreds of Jizo figures at Zojo-ji temple always turn heads… but some just have that extra fashion flare! Whether the Jizo-san’s family gives a tongue-in-cheek nod to the traditional red cap and bib… mixes it up with new colors and handmade style… accessorizes with all the latest trends in Jizo fashion… dresses their Jizo-sanContinueContinue reading “Runway of the saints”
Category Archives: Seasonal Goodness
The most charming demons you’ll ever meet
Traditional Nebuta float from Aomori, representing “the rage that splits the heavens” of historical figure Sugawara no Michizane Demons have taken over the National Cultural Treasure steps at the Hotel Gajoen, where their gallery curators have whipped up a show riffing off the Japanese summertime tradition of telling ghost stories that send a chill upContinueContinue reading “The most charming demons you’ll ever meet”
Come for the wisteria, stay for the only-in-Japan sights!
Sometimes you just have to take a trip outside Tokyo to see things you can’t see in town, and these four destinations are absolutely worth the travel time during wisteria season. If you’re in Japan in late April to early May, GO! • ASHIKAGA FLOWER PARK This first one is all wisteria all the time,ContinueContinue reading “Come for the wisteria, stay for the only-in-Japan sights!”
Most baffling holiday mash-up yet
Is this the holiday where the bunny comes down the chimney with a sack of presents? • If you love strange Japanese stuff you’d never see anywhere else…
Places to go before everyone else discovers them
The Pink Season is coming, hand in hand with crazy crowds and high prices. But just because everyone and their cousin is heading for Japan in the next month doesn’t mean you have to sharpen your elbows to enjoy fabulous Japan goodness! Here are some only-in-Japan spots that I love (and some undiscovered gems inContinueContinue reading “Places to go before everyone else discovers them”
What do Japanese people crave most in the depths of winter?
A table? Photo thanks to Barklot Japan on Etsy Yes, a table. But a kotatsu isn’t just any old table. Designed to make it possible to survive winter without frostbite in Japan’s criminally underinsulated houses… the kotatsu’s secret weapon isn’t just the cozy oversized quilt held in place by a tabletop used for everything fromContinueContinue reading “What do Japanese people crave most in the depths of winter?”
Xmas Gifts I Do Not Want To Find Under My Tree
The world’s most dreaded procedure play set When flossing looks like the most fun activity on offer, you know you’re in trouble. • The fermented soybean puzzle The only thing that would make this puzzle featuring clumps of Japan’s most notoriously unfriendly food less fun would be if it were real nattō, which is oneContinueContinue reading “Xmas Gifts I Do Not Want To Find Under My Tree”
Fabulous folk art cats
If yesterday’s “Fairy Tale” exhibit post wasn’t enough to get you to the current exhibition at the Hotel Gajoen before it closes, I’m here to push you off the edge of the table with THESE. The cat theme runs strong throughout the show, but the ones that really put a smile on my face wereContinueContinue reading “Fabulous folk art cats”
Art X Japanese Folk Tales at this deliciously creepy art exhibit
From magical births to bamboo princesses, this whimsical (and slightly spooky) folk tale exhibit at the Hotel Gajoen is well worth climbing its Hyakudan Kaidan (hundred step staircase) to see! The lavishly decorated rooms (each painted by a different famous master) are the perfect setting for the traditional arts on display, and each room hasContinueContinue reading “Art X Japanese Folk Tales at this deliciously creepy art exhibit”
It’s summertime at the goldfish museum!
Summertime is goldfish season in Japan, and nowhere is more spectacularly summery than the Art Aquarium Museum. The exotic fishies are surrounded by floral bounty… and there’ are none’s nothing more seasonal than the lotus blossoms that grace the tanks of these beauties… for a summertime classic twofer. Also new for summer are the bankContinueContinue reading “It’s summertime at the goldfish museum!”
Alt Cherry
This spring has been hella cold and rainy, so not only did the cherry blossoms bloom a week late, everyone’s selfies in front of the pinkness feature brave smiles hunched in Seattle-worthy raingear. Which is why we need to be cheered by the pink pleasures of hanami season that don’t give a fig for theContinueContinue reading “Alt Cherry”
These weeping plums will make you smile
There are other reasons to come to Japan in February, but basking in the goodness of weeping plum trees in full bloom is reason enough to say TAKE MY MONEY. Nowhere are they more glorious than at Soga Bairin, a plum-growing region just a short train ride from Tokyo in Odawara. If you really wantContinueContinue reading “These weeping plums will make you smile”
Be wowed by all the mega-illumination crowd-pleasers without leaving Tokyo!
Tokyo Mega-Illumi is back! It’s got all the crowd pleasers of more remote illuminations displays but is just a two-minute walk from Ōi-keibajō-mae Tokyo Monorail station. As a veteran of scouting illuminations displays—from the in-town twinklers to the far afield—I can vouch for the fact that the Mega-Illumi designers really did pick the best ofContinueContinue reading “Be wowed by all the mega-illumination crowd-pleasers without leaving Tokyo!”
Where to see the best wisteria in Tokyo
You haven’t seen wisteria until you’ve ogled the giant purple vines of Tokyo. Not only is each plant astoundingly huge and lush with garlands of blooms, the streamers of flowers can be nearly a meter long! Here are my favorite places to see them in Tokyo: • NISHIARAI DAISHI TEMPLE This year is the firstContinueContinue reading “Where to see the best wisteria in Tokyo”
Sakura Night Garden
For the entire month of April 2023, the glorious cherry trees of Shinjuku Gyouen National Garden are lit up in ever-changing colors, turning Tokyo’s grandest park into a springtime wonderland. I went early in the month, so the crowd was hanami-huge, but it didn’t feel crowded because the area that’s lit up is so massive.ContinueContinue reading “Sakura Night Garden”
Floating flowers are taking over Japan this spring
Hanachōzu at the Gyōda Hachiman Shrine In Japan, too many flowers is just enough, especially when it comes to hanachōzu! The latest fashion for excess splendor started at shrines that fill their purifying mizu-chōzuya (“hand washing water place”) with a mix of spring blooms and colorful floating balls… Hanachōzu at Kawagoe Hachimangu …but it grewContinueContinue reading “Floating flowers are taking over Japan this spring”
Where to see the best plum blossoms in Tokyo
Here are my favorite places to ogle the plum blossoms in all their glory! • YUSHIMA SHRINE This shrine is one of the most beautiful in Tokyo… and it not only has a ton of plum trees, it has a festival to celebrate them the whole month of February, with monkey shows, taiko performances andContinueContinue reading “Where to see the best plum blossoms in Tokyo”
Santa Blasphemy returns
Don’t let the name of this Santa costume fool you—there’s nothing sacrosanct about Santa when it comes to dressing up like the jolly old elf in Japan! Even the most stalwart child might hesitate before climbing into the lap of a Holy Basic Santa who looks like he might demand a confession before hearing aboutContinueContinue reading “Santa Blasphemy returns”
Japan’s borders are finally opening! When are YOU going?
After two and a half looong years, the Japanese government finally announced that from October 11, 2022, you don’t have to be on a tour or book your tickets through a Japanese travel agent or get a visa, as long as you can prove you are vaccinated and boosted!* If you’ve been itching to goContinueContinue reading “Japan’s borders are finally opening! When are YOU going?”
What do you need for cherry blossom season? Your own light-up Lego cherry tree!
Remember when I ordered all those fab Lego village kits? Well, the Buildiverse folks sent me one that I missed (or I would have already bought it instantly): this light-up pinkness of pinknesses! If you can’t be in Japan right now to see the real cherry trees put on their signature splendor, this is totallyContinueContinue reading “What do you need for cherry blossom season? Your own light-up Lego cherry tree!”
Girls’ Day dolls with a side of quirky
Every March 3rd, families with daughters display a set of Girls’ Day dolls that represent the Imperial court at its Heian Era finest… …but these days, you don’t have to be a nobleman or a shrine maiden to ascend the vermilion steps! The Imperial Pokemon court One Piece characters go royal or go home EmperorContinueContinue reading “Girls’ Day dolls with a side of quirky”
Live eel sushi rolls
Just in time for Setsubun—the Japanese holiday on which demons are exorcized with dry beans and smelly sardines—the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium built this hilarious (and twisted!) ehōmaki sushi roll hideout for its garden eels. You’ll get the joke immediately if you know that ehōmaki rolls are only sold on Setsubun (which happens to fall onContinueContinue reading “Live eel sushi rolls”
Speed Tribes come of age, Yanki style
Every year in the city of Kitakyushu, Coming-of-Age Day is celebrated in over-the top style by 20-year-olds kitted out in outlandish versions of Japanese formalwear. The second Monday in January (the holiday on which all Japanese twenty-year-olds become legal adults) is well known by kimono-spotters all over Japan as the best day all year toContinueContinue reading “Speed Tribes come of age, Yanki style”
Tokyo’s best-dressed nude statue: It’s that Santa time of year
Tokyo’s best-dressed nude statue changes into the jolly old elf for the month of December, but sometimes his costumers get a bit…creative. When they started in the year 2000, the first few years were pretty tame… Then someone gave him a pet reindeer Which ushered in a period of hog-wild experimentation… that provoked some sortContinueContinue reading “Tokyo’s best-dressed nude statue: It’s that Santa time of year”
Perfect 2020 Halloween costumes from Japan
If you’re desperate to get out after months of quarantining and can’t resist that invite to a good old-fashioned Halloween party, the ace variety store Don Kihote suggests some costumes that will enforce that social distancing with a vengeance! Hard to get any clearer than this! If you’re worried your fellow revelers might have troubleContinueContinue reading “Perfect 2020 Halloween costumes from Japan”
These lovely Tokyo sites light up at night
One of the most entertaining things you can do in Tokyo is wander around town after the sun goes down! The wizards of stagecraft have worked their magic all over Tokyo, and all kinds of interesting stuff lights up after dark, in dramatic and technologically inventive ways. Everyone can enjoy ogling everything from traditional templesContinueContinue reading “These lovely Tokyo sites light up at night”
Five Japanese flower seasons that will make you happy you missed the cherry blossoms
If you have to postpone your Japan trip and miss the cherry blossoms this spring, don’t despair! There are other flower seasons you can catch after the current contagion dies down that deliver just as much flowers-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see amazement, without the crowds. If eye-popping flowers are what you’re longing to see, here are my five favorites,ContinueContinue reading “Five Japanese flower seasons that will make you happy you missed the cherry blossoms”
Spring Arrives Early: Flowers by Naked 2020
Just when you’re beginning to long for spring but it’s still shivery and damp and gray outside…Flowers By Naked arrives! The projection-mapping environment group Naked is staging its annual flower-themed extravaganza again for the whole month of February, so hop on over there and get a dose of spring fever. This year’s theme is “Sakura”ContinueContinue reading “Spring Arrives Early: Flowers by Naked 2020”
Fresh Acts Of Santa Blasphemy
Once again, Japanese costume purveyors are outdoing themselves with even more WTF ways to impersonate Saint Nick, which (I think you’ll have to agree) is a pretty heroic effort if you dispense with the red suit, the beard, and even the tiniest nod to jolly… This “Santa” looks like he might show up with aContinueContinue reading “Fresh Acts Of Santa Blasphemy”
Where to see the best winter illuminations in Tokyo
The holiday light displays have become a bit more subdued since the pandemic, but there are still plenty of amazing light shows, if you know where to look! Here are the ones right in central Tokyo you can see for free! Tokyo Midtown Roppongi Roppongi’s Midtown mall stages a choreographed holiday light show along theContinueContinue reading “Where to see the best winter illuminations in Tokyo”
Where To See The Best Autumn Leaves In Tokyo…Lit Up At Night!
The hot new trend of holiday illuminations in Tokyo has spread to the gardens and parks, with more and more lighting up their naturally spectacular autumn leaves and opening for special evening viewing! Here are my current favorites: • SHOWA KINEN PARK near Tachikawa Station There are two areas lit up at night: 1: TheContinueContinue reading “Where To See The Best Autumn Leaves In Tokyo…Lit Up At Night!”
Killer Chrysanthemums 2019
It’s that time of year again, when the chrysanthemum wranglers of Tokyo liberate their flower-of-choice from ragtag funeral bouquets and show the world they can hold their own with far more glamorous blooms! Here’s what’s new for 2019: • YUSHIMA TENJIN SHRINE It’s hard to argue that this isn’t the must-see chrysanthemum diorama every year.ContinueContinue reading “Killer Chrysanthemums 2019”
The Most Beautiful Autumn Leaves In Japan
Last fall on this exact day, I was ogling some of the most gorgeous autumn leaves in Japan, and I’ve been WAITING for the season to roll around again, so I can show you! All these places are within shouting distance of Tokyo, but while the leaves are still maddeningly green in the city, they’reContinueContinue reading “The Most Beautiful Autumn Leaves In Japan”
The Most Only-In-Japan Halloween Costumes Ever
Tired of being the same old sexy skunk or slightly NSFW goose in a tutu for Halloween? Keep your fellow costume partiers guessing with these only-in-Japan puzzlers! However much mini-skirted shrine maidens might figure in cosplay fantasies, you can be sure this will be the first time everyone actually sees one IRL And if you’reContinueContinue reading “The Most Only-In-Japan Halloween Costumes Ever”
This Year’s Burning October Question: What’s The Peeing Statue Wearing For Halloween?
I had to go check to make sure that the best-dressed nude statue in Tokyo made it through the typhoon safely. And he did! Not only that, he already knows what he’s going to be for Halloween. But…huh? Retro-70s disco witch? As you can see, “witch” costumes in Japan are subject to the same considerable creativeContinueContinue reading “This Year’s Burning October Question: What’s The Peeing Statue Wearing For Halloween?”
Dahlia Bonanza At The Toshogu Shrine
Every fall, this exquisitely curated exhibition happens at the Toshogu Shrine in Ueno Park, at the same place that hosts the eye-popping peony specimens in May. This “garden” only exists for a few weeks every year, when the patiently nurtured dahlias are coaxed into bloom by their owners and brought to the shrine. Each plantContinueContinue reading “Dahlia Bonanza At The Toshogu Shrine”
Giant Paper Lanterns On Wheels
Usually you’d have to hie yourself all the way up to rural Aomori* to catch a glimpse of these epic glowing floats, but lucky for me, last fall I happened across an outpost of the Nebuta Festival right in my own backyard! For some mysterious reason, six of the outrageously great floats were swanning down the shopping street near NakanobuContinueContinue reading “Giant Paper Lanterns On Wheels”
When The Gods Decide To Plant A Lotus Garden, They Don’t Mess Around
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 flowersContinueContinue reading “When The Gods Decide To Plant A Lotus Garden, They Don’t Mess Around”
If Only Japanese Rock Gardens Were Filled With Cooling Mist & Illuminations…
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,ContinueContinue reading “If Only Japanese Rock Gardens Were Filled With Cooling Mist & Illuminations…”
Rice Field Art
In what has to be the weirdest creative medium next to the Seed Art Pavilion at the Minnesosta State Fair, Japanese farmers have taken to making large-scale art by planting some of their fields in different strains of rice. The only problem is, in order to even see what the picture is of, you haveContinueContinue reading “Rice Field Art”
Floating Lanterns
Candle-lit lanterns floating across a pond in the moonlight? Yes, please! This Toro Nagashi lantern ceremony was at the Ueno temple that sits amid the nodding lotus heads of Shinobazu Pond, and it was lovely. What I didn’t know was that it signals the end of annual O-bon festivities, the three days in summer when theContinueContinue reading “Floating Lanterns”
Where To See The Most Divine Lotus Blossoms In Tokyo
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… <swoon!> Lotus flowers open at first light, are at their best fromContinueContinue reading “Where To See The Most Divine Lotus Blossoms In Tokyo”
Things I Did Not Know You Could Do With A Lotus Leaf
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 theContinueContinue reading “Things I Did Not Know You Could Do With A Lotus Leaf”
The Enchanted Hydrangea Forest
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 andContinueContinue reading “The Enchanted Hydrangea Forest”
Under The Umbrella Sky
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. The exhibit is constructed from hundreds of tinted umbrellas, linked invisibly overhead, between the trees You enter beneath the warm endContinueContinue reading “Under The Umbrella Sky”
Azalea Pilgrimage 2019
I know you’re exhausted after elbowing your way through the crazy crowds instagramming the cherry blossoms, which is why you should take a deep breath and go see the azaleas. Like cherry blossoms, the all-flowers-all-the-time spectacle will knock your socks off, but unlike the famous fluffy things, you can enjoy them in blissful near-solitude. HereContinueContinue reading “Azalea Pilgrimage 2019”
The Best Places To See Pink Rivers of Cherry Blossom Petals
Photo thanks to the Hikawa Shrine Facebook page, which (thanks to their position right on the banks of the Shingashi River in Kawagoe) got the pink river timing perfect (unlike, uh, moi) The leaves are greening, hangovers cured, blue tarps furled, the madness over. Right? Wrong! Because as soon as the petals begin to fall,ContinueContinue reading “The Best Places To See Pink Rivers of Cherry Blossom Petals”
The Scourge Of The Orange Jacket
Okay, I know you think I’m a whiner because I went off on this guy wearing an orange jacket, sitting right in the middle of a shot I wanted to take during cherry blossom season at Shinjuku Gyōen. I mean, one guy, minding his own business—so what if his head’s inside his phone instead ofContinueContinue reading “The Scourge Of The Orange Jacket”
Hacking Hanami: How To Get Yourself Invited To A Cherry Blossom Party
Kicking back under clouds of pink blossoms in the warm spring sun, eating a picnic and drinking with friends – it’s something you always dreamed of doing in Japan, isn’t it? And then you get here, and you discover that unless you’re a member of a work group that puts on a hanami party, you’ll beContinueContinue reading “Hacking Hanami: How To Get Yourself Invited To A Cherry Blossom Party”
Plum Blossoms Lit Up At Night
The Yushima Shrine is famous for its plum blossoms, and until the end of February, you can see them lit up at night! Even if you’re a cherry blossom loyalist (in which case I sentence you to visiting all my favorite plum tree gardens and upgrading your flower preferences JUST SAYIN’) it’s a grand opportunity toContinueContinue reading “Plum Blossoms Lit Up At Night”
Only In Japan 