My mental map of Tokyo is spot-on.
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Is Wakayama Worth Visiting?
If you know what or where “Wakayama” is, you’ve taken a step most tourists have not.
Continue ReadingJapan Off the Beaten Path
There’s value in seeing Japan off its tourist trail.
Continue ReadingPlan Your 2023 Japan Trip Today
It’s not too early to start planning travel to Japan in 2023.
Continue ReadingEnjoy the Japanese Autumn Post-Pandemic
If you’re thinking of seeing autumn colors in Japan, fall 2022 will be your earliest opportunity
Continue ReadingKyoto in Perfect Proportion
There isn’t any such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” trip to Japan’s erstwhile capital.
Continue ReadingDispatches from the New Lagoon
You get more bang for your buck traveling in parts of Japan like Niigata.
Continue ReadingWhere Japan’s Unsung Cherries Grow
“It was superb,” I replied in Japanese to the woman selling soft cream flavored with Yamagata cherries.
Continue ReadingKyoto for Four Days
Kyoto is more than worth 96 hours of your time.
Continue Reading30 Stunning Pictures of Japan During Cherry Blossom Season
At long last, I’ve done Japan’s cherry blossoms justice.
Continue ReadingThe Truth About Ishigaki
Could this sojourn have catalyzed the dawn an opposite reality, a freer future?
Continue ReadingCherry Blossom Coda
The cherry blossoms are gone—but I’m still blooming.
Continue ReadingEarly Birds, Late Blooms
Sakura season—for me and for Japan—was so close to its conclusion that even the birds knew.
Continue ReadingKyoto’s Treasure Trail
I can say without a doubt that five days is not too long to spend in Kyoto.
Continue ReadingIs Nara Worth Visiting?
Nara isn’t for everyone, but it might just be for you.
Continue ReadingSecond Sea
Hitachi Seaside Park, for all the hype about its prefecture’s apparent ugliness, is one of the most gorgeous places I’ve been in Japan.
Continue ReadingThe Capital of Cherry Blossoms
Kyoto’s 2021 cherry blossom season began on March 21, at least for me.
Continue ReadingJapan’s Famous Fields of Baby Blue
Hitachi Seaside Park is beautiful, and mostly lives up to the hype built up around it—but it’s not for everyone.
Continue ReadingApex of the Sakura
It isn’t every year that you sync up with the cherry blossom front; if you do, magic will surely flow outward from that linkage.
Continue ReadingA Very Kanazawa Future
Wednesday was the warmest morning I’ve ever taken to the streets of Kanazawa, although that isn’t saying much.
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