Category Archives: Seasonal Goodness

March 26

Cherry Blossom Report 2018

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Yikes, everything is blooming crazy early this year! Here are a few highlights, as each day unfolds. For directions and maps, head over to The Best Cherry Blossom Spots in Tokyo For where to take the best photos of both early-blooming and late-blooming cherry blossoms, along with maps of where to find each variety in […]

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November 20

The Best Tokyo Illuminations 2017

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It’s time again for the best free holiday light show ever! Here are this year’s Tokyo Illuminations offerings, some of them even better than before: • TOKYO MIDTOWN This year’s “Starlight Garden” extravaganza is super lavish, with different shows for each night of the week. There’s a four-minute blue and white spin around the galaxy, […]

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November 19

Instabae

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That’s what you call this in Japan. It’s an experience that looks way better shared on social media than in real life. But I gotta say, Japan is genius at it. But even though they did a pretty decent job of selling orange as the new amber, this team gets a certain number of #instabae […]

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November 10

A Feast Of Autumn Leaves

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The season has arrived, and in somewhat strange order this year. The ginkgo trees are full-on gold and already carpeting their surroundings with fallen leaves, but most Japanese maples are still just showing a mere tinge of red. Here’s what’s happening right now, and here are the best places to see them, with maps. These […]

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October 30

Hallowrong

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This insidious Halloween snowman’s got a world-class #xmasmissioncreep game going on, but I’m going to choose not to be reminded that the Japanese Christmas glitter bomb is poised to hit us right between the eyes at 12:01 a.m. on November first. Tip o’ the thank you scream mask to my friend Shuri T, for telling me […]

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October 17

In The Japanese Dahlia Garden

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There’s a secret walled garden at the Ueno Toshogu Shrine that’s only open once a year for peony season, but guess what? This year they’re letting us come in to see the dahlias too! Bring your thesaurus, though, so you don’t wear out the word WOW. Open: Every day from September 30 – October 29 […]

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October 05

Who Knew There Was A Butterfly Season In Tokyo?

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Went to check on whether the cosmos were blooming yet at Hama-Rikyu Teien garden last week and discovered that the lovely fields of gently nodding multicolored blooms I remembered were looking vastly overgrown and (honestly!) kind of ratty. I was about to stalk away muttering, “Disappointment, thy name is Hama-Rikyu” when the corner of my eye […]

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