Tranquil Kyushu Island; 1. Aso Volcano, the world largest caldera !

October 30, 2008 - 2:06 pm by akko@hakata in Others  

After exciting Tokyo and traditional Kyoto, why not visiting tranquil Kyushu, where you can experience magic of nature, and what it bring out, such as onsen (hot spring) , beautiful nature, fresh local food, good sake, and friendly people!

Aso mountain is the general term referring to 5 mountains.
Nakadake (1592m) is one of them, and [...]

Noboribetsu hot spring (Hokkaido) “Kodaman’s J-Trip”

July 2, 2008 - 12:59 pm by kodaman in Travel  

On early June, I visited Sapporo,Hokkaido for my work as a event’s MC.
At the next day of the event, I and my friends went to Noboribetsu  by using a gorgeous bus served by Cool star corp. It took for about 90 min to go to Noboribetsu area from Sapporo by bus.
Our tour started from 9:30 [...]

Fukuoka, introduced as the World Best Shopping City @ MONOCLE

June 26, 2008 - 2:03 pm by akko@hakata in Others, Travel  

Fukuoka, which already has a very good reputation among residents,
business people (especially Tanshin-Funin people* !), domestic tourists,
and also oversea visitors, first appeared in the latest MONOCLE magazine,
and introduced as the best shopping city, and the 16th livable place.

As a resident, Fukuoka is;
-Gourmet! Especially recommendable is ramen noodle, seafood, local shochu (distilled spirit).
-Friendly! People show [...]

Dougo-spa@Matsuyama-city

May 20, 2008 - 11:14 am by ayumi_ito in Food, Travel  

Dougo-onsen is the oldest spa in Japan. It is located in Matsuyama-city, Ehime-prefecture.
These first two pictures are main building of Dougo-spa.
It was founded over 100years ago by Yukiya Isaniwa who was the first chief of the villege.
He got any salary for adding cost of building because it was huge money at the time.(135,000yen was spent [...]

Izu Shuzenji hot springs -Izu- Kodaman’s J-TRIP

May 12, 2008 - 8:04 pm by kodaman in Travel  

Before visiting to Izu shuzenji, I always imagined that Shuzen ji temple is located in the middle of the
bamboo groves in that its location is in the center of Izu peninsula. It was actually developed but
remained the atmosphere of the traditional hot spring resort. I visited there on earyl May 2008
without any [...]

Yanagi-ya

May 7, 2008 - 12:58 am by norinori in Food  

Yanagi-ya is one of the most popular Taiyaki-store in Tokyo. Taiyaki is Japanese authentic sweet which include Anko, made from blace bean. When you reach Yanagi-ya, you have to make a line inside the store and may wait about 10 minutes. While you wait, you can watch that artisan cook Taiyaki by gripping really hot [...]

Visit Nagasaki!

April 16, 2008 - 2:39 pm by jason in Food, Others  

I think I’ve found a new favourite city in Japan. Sapporo’s snow festival was great, Kyoto is beautiful, Tokyo is exciting and Yokohama has my favourite baseball team.
But Nagasaki seemed like a great place to live. There’s great food (though this is true of just about every city in Japan) - try the Saraudon for dinner in [...]

simple SPA (onsen):”yura-no-sato”

March 10, 2008 - 7:06 pm by mentalup in Culture  

simple SPA has various types of baths, as woods bath, stone bath. It’s not just SPA, but for SAUNA (sweating-bath) and massage etc.
“yura-no-sato” will make a mysterious experience!

You will put on YUKATA(like a kimono), and lie on tourmaline stone.
It has effect healing n’ naturally heab!

And you can have experience it at very cheap!!!-about $7
YURA-NO-SATO (湯楽の里）
*Address* 2-1-65 tukimityou Kumagaya-shi, Saitama
*tel* [...]

Back to the 50-60’s Japan -Andy’s Izakaya

March 2, 2008 - 12:34 am by sachie_kobayashi in Food  

Feel like yakitori with some beer? Japanese fish dish?
You may image that the traditional Japanese food is quite expensive. Oｆ cause that’s right to some extent, so is haute cuisine, but actually such food is not everyday diet.
Then, try Izakaya food. it’s not so expensive but yummy! Find a red lantern! Red lantern indicates “Izakaya”, or [...]

Arashiyama station(Kyoto) “Kodaman’s J-TRIP”

February 28, 2008 - 5:27 pm by kodaman in Culture, Travel  

Arashiyama(嵐山）Area is one of the touristic places in Kyoto. Togetsu bridge(渡月橋）is a famous spot to take a photo. We went there in winter. When we arrived at Arashiyama station, we were so suprised because of Onsen”hot spring” in that station! People must walk a lot in Arashiyama,since many [...]