Kyoto cheap restaurant DARUMAYA

May 8, 2007 - 6:08 pm by mickey in Food, Travel  

Restaurant since 1953
DARUMAYA serves set meal(teisyoku), noodles(udon and soba), rice bowl dishes(donburi), a la carte and coffee.
DARUMAYA is near Ryoanji, Myosinji, Ninnaji, Tojiin temple and Ritsumeikan, Hanazono university.
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~darumaya-syokudo/en/

Cha-Batake, Panorama view Tea Field　@Yame

May 6, 2007 - 5:43 pm by akko@hakata in Travel  

Yame is a agricultural district, country side of Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu,
and is famous for growing Cha, Japanese Green Tea.

This is where Cha is grown and picked up.
Spring is the season for its harvest, and we can taste Shin-Cha, the years’ fresh tea.

This is the Cha factory, where Cha turns to product.
Its neighbourhood is full of [...]

Children’s Day

May 5, 2007 - 4:16 pm by kiokitok in Culture  

The Japanese celebrates Children’s Day on May 5. That particular day has been celebrated as Tango no Sekku. It was the day they pray for their children’s health and prosperity. This celebration was said to be imported from China although the Koreans claimed and was now recognized that it was born in [...]

Golden Week

April 28, 2007 - 10:54 pm by kiokitok in Culture  

In the end of April, there is about a week of holidays called Golden Week. A lot of Japanese go for a trip. Every tourist site is filled with people both in and outside of Japan. As soon as the days are over, everyone goes back to the business.
Salarymen (white-collar employees) rarely [...]

Dream Ryoma @ Kanko-maru, Nagasaki Hansen Festival

April 27, 2007 - 9:04 pm by akko@hakata in Travel  

Nagasaki Hansen Festival is being held at Nagasaki Port (Apr.26-30).
Out of seven big sailig ships on this show, I especially would like to focus on Kanko-maru, which is the simbol of Ryoma Sakamoto’s hope !

This is the replica of the sailing ship that Ryoma actually boarded.
What’s wonderful about this festival is that you can [...]

Greet Ryoma @ Kazagashira Park, Nagasaki

April 26, 2007 - 6:32 pm by akko@hakata in Travel  

About 20 minutes by bus from Nagasaki Station, Ryoma Sakamoto is standing on the hill of Kazagashira Park, overviewing Nagasaki Port (*).
It was actually the most dramatic moment of his life.

This is a statue of `Ryoma ga Yuku (Here Ryoma goes)’, a popular novel written by Ryotaro Shiba.
Here’s what is written;
When the ship [...]

Romantic Nagasaki, Meet `Madame Butterfly’ @ Glover Garden

April 23, 2007 - 5:32 pm by akko@hakata in Travel  

Nagasaki is the stage of Romance.
The story of the famous Opera `Madame Butterfly’ was created in Nagasaki, based on the romance between a US Navy and a Japanese woman.

Puccini (left) loved the performance of Tamaki Miura (right) so much, and he commented that she’s the best Madame Butterfly ever.

There’re two heart stones in Glover [...]

The Hippies are coming! The Hippies are coming!

April 21, 2007 - 6:05 pm by mrmook in Travel  

Dude! Where’s my Decade?

I accidentally stumbled into the 60’s last weekend when the wife and I took a leisurely shopping stroll on a lovely, sunny, Sunday in Kyoto.

Our ultimate destination was the Bike (as in bicycle) Shop to purchase some new wheels but along the way we got caught [...]

Koishikawa Korakuen Garden

- 1:53 pm by kiokitok in Travel  

Gardening was always a popular hobby for riches in the old days. It is still a good hobby for them, and they maintain a lot of traditional gardens in Japan. Many of those old gardens are privately owned by temples, especially in Kansai (the west). There are some in Tokyo and its [...]

Form A Long Line

April 14, 2007 - 9:06 pm by kiokitok in Culture  

The Japanese do not worry about forming a line and wait for hours, in order to obtain what they want, even in this crowded city of Tokyo. According to the official statistics, Tokyo has the population density of 13,800 people per square kilometers (5,328 / sq. miles) in the 23 districts, that goes up [...]