Japan’s amazing snow monsters on the prowl
February 8, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
by Lisa Jardine
When Hilary Wendel, a Tokyo-based photographer and good friend, asked me to tag along as she photographed “Japan’s scariest monsters,” I was apprehensive at first.
Fortunately for us both, the Snow Monsters of Zao in Yamagata Prefecture are more impressive than terrifying.
They are actually Aomori fir trees that have been coated with extremely wet snow and ice carried by a cold Siberian Jetstream that also freezes them almost solid in some of the most peculiar shapes I’ve ever seen.
And they’re easy to reach from Kanto too — tickets from Tokyo Station to Yamagata by Shinkansen cost ¥21,800 round-trip and the train takes 150 minutes to get there.
If you’re skiing and not just snapping, you might want to consider sending your equipment and luggage ahead by Japan’s extremely convenient takkyubin service so as not to start the trip off with a sardine-can experience on the subway.
10 islands for every type of traveler
February 6, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
So many islands in the world (around 2 million at the last count), so little desire to leave the comfort of the computer screen.
Until you realize that out there somewhere there is an island that could have been designed just for you.
So who are you? Millionaire? Nudist? Family guy or celebrity stalker? Figure that out first, then get booking.
1. Millionaires: Musha Cay, Bahamas
Musha Cay is a millionaire’s playground. More specifically, David Copperfield’s playground, after he purchased the island resort from Blockbuster Video co-founder John Melk in 2006 for a reported US$ 56 million.
Other millionaires such as Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates reportedly vacationed here, and in 2007 Google founder Sergey Brin hosted his wedding on the island.
Andy Warhol exhibition in Asia: 15 minutes clearly isn’t enough
February 6, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
by CNNGo staff
Five cities in Asia are to be hit by pictures of canned soup, a hamburger and a colorful representation of Chairman Mao, apparently wearing lipstick, over the next two years.
The artworks are traveling as part of the “Andy Warhol: 15 Minutes Eternal” exhibition, the biggest retrospective on Warhol’s work ever to be shown in Asia.
Warhol, who died in 1987, is famous for declaring: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
The show will start at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum at the Marina Bay Sands hotel on March 17, 2012, and will then travel to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Tokyo before it ends some time in 2014.
Specific date and venue details for the other cities have not yet been released.
UFC 144: World’s most violent sport hits Tokyo
January 31, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
by Jason Coskrey
Later this month, that bastion of bash-‘em-ups, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), makes a long-awaited appearance in Japan, giving fans an opportunity to see some of the best fighters in the world, including the latest incarnation of B.A. Baracus in the flesh.
The Japanese fight scene hasn’t been quite the same since Pride Fighting Championships (PRIDE) shuttered its doors in 2007.
As UFC holding company Zuffa bought the remains of the old company that year, it’s no surprise the card UFC has put together is a mixture of new Mixed Martail Arts (MMA) stars and former PRIDE stalwarts.
For the curious, or uninitiated, it’s a chance to get a taste of a rapidly growing sport that has deep roots in Japan. MMA is unarmed combat that brings together fighters with backgrounds in karate, Brazilian jiujitsu, boxing, wrestling and various other disciplines.
If it involves pummeling your opponent in a ring, it’s in.
Gregory Starr: GPS is the traveler’s enemy
January 30, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
by Gregory Starr
A study published late last year by a U.S. national newspaper showed a surprisingly large percentage of GPS users suffering from the digital blues to such an extent vacations and even trips to the local store were being dashed against the twin rocks of hope and common sense.
Our intrepid travelers reported being plagued with all kinds of problems: more than a third had experienced difficulties simply finding the right address, a quarter had dealt with convoluted (read “idiotic”) directions and a not miniscule 14 percent claimed they couldn’t even see the screen because of glare.
What wasn’t included in the article was the degree that navigation systems of all shapes and sizes have reduced the collective IQ of the global population, which is a polite way for saying they’ve basically made us more stupid when we hit the road.
Remain in your vehicle, please sir
I was offered a ride the other day, and despite the fact that a mid-afternoon journey by car in Tokyo often ends up taking longer than earning a black belt in any of the martial art disciplines, I accepted.
Gregory Starr: GPS is the traveler’s enemy
January 30, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
by Gregory Starr
A study published late last year by a U.S. national newspaper showed a surprisingly large percentage of GPS users suffering from the digital blues to such an extent vacations and even trips to the local store were being dashed against the twin rocks of hope and common sense.
Our intrepid travelers reported being plagued with all kinds of problems: more than a third had experienced difficulties simply finding the right address, a quarter had dealt with convoluted (read “idiotic”) directions and a not miniscule 14 percent claimed they couldn’t even see the screen because of glare.
What wasn’t included in the article was the degree that navigation systems of all shapes and sizes have reduced the collective IQ of the global population, which is a polite way for saying they’ve basically made us more stupid when we hit the road.
Remain in your vehicle, please sir
I was offered a ride the other day, and despite the fact that a mid-afternoon journey by car in Tokyo often ends up taking longer than earning a black belt in any of the martial art disciplines, I accepted.
Tokyo’s stunning palace for the printed word
January 26, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
The duo that designed Tokyo’s latest architectural wonder is turning an age-old phrase by that quintessential Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, on its head. “Art is never finished,” said the Italian painter, sculptor, architect and you-name-it-he-did-it. “Only abandoned.”
Sure, if you visit Daikanyama T-Site [Japanese], an upscale retail complex that opened last December 5 in the city’s trendy Daikanyama neighborhood, you might notice that Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein’s creation is not quite done.
On a sunny January morning inside Anjin [Japanese], a chic and comfy café-lounge that sits atop one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, the founders of Klein Dytham architecture (KDa) are told — with polite words and bows — they’ll have to sip their cappuccinos at a different table.
The lighting guy’s arrived. Apparently one of the fixtures is hanging too low.
But while Dytham and Klein might be playing musical chairs (or in this case, musical designer couches), they aren’t planning on abandoning their chef d’oeuvre. They like it too much. Plus, it’s just down the street from their office.
Japan quake drives tourist numbers to rock bottom
January 26, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Given the knock-on effects of the March 11 earthquake, it’s hardly unexpected, but the news that the number of tourists visiting Japan in 2011 was down by almost 30 percent still came as something of a blow to the country’s travel industry.
The figures, compiled by the Japan National Tourist Organization, show the biggest annual fall in visitors since it began keeping records.
Just 6.2 million foreign travelers visited Japan [Japanese, scroll down for English] in the whole of 2011 — down 27.8 percent on 2010.
While the impact of the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear accident are all implicated, JNTO also says the historically strong Japanese yen has caused many potential visitors to stay away.
Country breakdown
By country, the numbers show South Koreans shunned the usually popular Japan trips in their droves. Korea has long accounted for the largest number of incoming tourists to its near neighbor.
A brand-new village in the heart of Tokyo
January 24, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
Yoyogi is rarely (well, never) highlighted on tourist maps of Tokyo, but one man is on a mission to bring new life to an area that until 1889 was actually known as Yoyogi Village.
Music producer Takeshi Kobayashi is opening up his own, all-new Yoyogi Village and in the spirit of the literal translation of Yoyogi — “generations of trees” — it is an eco-park filled with shops, eateries and event spaces around a central landscaped garden.
Despite being a stone’s throw from the station, Yoyogi Village is actually tricky to find, with no signage to its side-street main entrance.
But once stumbled upon, it can’t be mistaken, as the entrance itself has the feeling of entering a theme park — or at least a green oasis within an otherwise standard Tokyo shopping district.
A hull-shaped wooden walkways offer an initial choice inside the mostly open-air complex — either explore the upper decking and terrace, or walk through a street of cafés to the greenery in the center.
12 reasons to visit Japan in 2012
January 19, 2012 by JapanGuide
Filed under Japan Today
1. January: Lashings of good luck
Hey little fella — you get both eyes only if I have a great year, ok?
Bright red daruma dolls are a symbol of good luck in Japan, due to their unique shape that allows them to right themselves when knocked over. Apparently, that’s a good thing.
The tradition of the daruma can be traced back centuries to Takasaki’s Shorizan Daruma Temple in Gunma Prefecture, which allegedly asked farmers suffering from famine to make the papier-mâché dolls to sell at the temple for extra income.
Today, the city of Takasaki remains Japan’s largest producer of daruma dolls, accounting for roughly 80 percent of total production. It also hosts the yearly Daruma Ichi (market) on January 6 and 7, although the little red critters can be found right through the early months of the year.
Visitors flock to the town to select their daruma from mounds of the things — from thimble-sized tiny ones up to dolls you’d need a truck to get home.
