Artsinspire Japan Tours

11/01/2021

https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/event/yokoso-collingwood-fitzroy-japan-festival
The Yokoso Collingwood Fitzroy Japan Festival is this Sunday, January 17. The weather is looking good and the restaurants are preparing. The musicians are very excited to perform - after a year of no gigs one musician said 'Yokoso is a light of hope!' Buy your Tastes of Japan passport online. Pick it up anytime 12 - 4 on January 17 and use it anytime between 12:30 and 7:00 on the same day at the participating restaurants. They're all in walking distance so drop back in between tastes to see performances at the Yokoso Peel St Concert.

Six of the inner-city's best Japanese restaurants are on board, and there'll be live music, a vintage market, raffles and more.

21/12/2020

January 17, 2021 is the day of the Yokoso Collingwood Fitzroy Japan Festival. Go to the website to see all the details of the concert and markets and how to buy a Tastes of Japan Passport. It's going to be a great event and I hope to see you and your friends there.
www.yokoso.com.au

Can’t go to Japan? Experience Japanese food and culture in the heart of Melbourne at the Collingwood Fitzroy Japanese Festival. Jan 17th, 2021 | 12:30 - 7pm Live music, market stalls, Tastes of Japan passport, raffle prizes.

22/11/2020

Mark Sunday January 17 on your calendars. You can't travel to Japan at the moment but you can "Experience Japan in Collingwood/Fitzroy Little Japan". A coalition of Japanese restaurants will give you a mini-serve of their speciality when you present your "Tastes of Japan" passport and a great line-up of Japanese musicians will provide entertainment all afternoon. More details soon!

04/10/2020

The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum was on the itinerary of the Artsinspire Japan Spring tour 2020.

12/07/2020

The wonderful thatched gallery of the Bizen yaki pottery of So Isezaki sensei who so kindly showed his kiln and firing techniques to the Artsinspire Autumn 2019 Japan tour.

05/05/2020

Today (5 May) is Children's Day, a public holiday in Japan.

Did you know the fifth month of the year was considered a bad month, and the fifth day of that month was thought to be particularly inauspicious in ancient times? Children's Day, traditionally called Tango no Sekku (端午の節句), first developed as an annual observance of ritual purification to eliminate defilement!

Find out more about special days throughout the year in Japan:https://web-japan.org/factsheet/en/pdf/e21_events.pdf

30/04/2020

If you didn’t get to the fabulous Japanese Modernism exhibition at NGV before the lockdown you can do a virtual tour. https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/exhibition/japanese-modernism/

Due to the evolving nature of COVID-19 and after following closely the State and Federal Government’s advice, we have extended the NGV’s temporary closure until 30 June.

13/02/2020

11/02/2020

A couple of days ago most participants in the Artsinspire Japan spring tour 2020 were able to attend an orientation. It was a great opportunity to meet and talk about our interests, what to pack, and the different hotels in which we will stay. On Day 5 we will stay in Gero Onsen at Yunoshimakan Ryokan which is listed as a National Tangible Cultural Asset.

10/02/2020

On April 18 there will be another opportunity to hear Japanese music. This time the musicians are Okinawan. Okinawa was previously known as Ryukyu and from the 12th century it was an independent kingdom that ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th to the 19th century.
https://www.trybooking.com/BIAJU

The organisers' intention for the concert, "結の宴 Integrated Sun - Ryukyu ∞ Wurundjeri , ...is to build a stronger tie between Australian and Japanese indigenous cultures and people. And, we hope to gain people's awareness for both group through this group. We believe that we can make a change to our world with better understanding towards both Australian and Japanese indigenous traditions and as a result we hope that people's awareness and willingness to support these cultures will increase with the concept of 'Collaboration'. Also this will strengthen the friendship between Australia and Japan."
https://ichimadin.wixsite.com/integratedsun

13/11/2019

On Day 13 of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour, the last day before we go our separate ways tomorrow, we caught the train to Dazaifu. Each of the 4 carriages of the train depicts one of the 4 seasons. At Dazaifu Tenmangu Shinto Shrine we saw several children dressed up for the 3, 5, 7 celebration for which parents take their children who have reached the ages of 3, 5, & 7 to the shrine to give thanks. We also visited the very peaceful Komyozenji Zen temple and its contemplative garden.

12/11/2019

On our last day of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour, before some of us return to Australia and others go on to Kyoto, we visited Dazaifu Shinto Tenmangu Shrine. We saw many children dressed in kimono as part of the 3, 5, 7 tradition giving thanks for children reaching those ages. We also spent some peaceful moments at Komyozenji Zen temple and garden.

11/11/2019

The Christmas lights have been lit at Hakata station, Fukuoka City.

10/11/2019

As part of the Kirishima Jingu Shinto fire ceremony wild nature spirits play taiko drums.

10/11/2019

Day 12 of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour: Perfect weather for the more than 1500 year old Shinto fire ceremony at Takachihogawara in Kirishima Jingu.

10/11/2019

Last morning in Kagoshima before catching the train to Kirishima Jingu.

09/11/2019

Day 10 of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour we saw the Sengan-en garden of the Shimazu clan who ruled this part of Kyushu for 700 years and were instrumental in the industrialisation of Japan and the 1868 end of feudalism.

07/11/2019

Western and Japanese building styles merge at Dejima, a man-made island constructed in 1636 to house foreign traders, control trade, and prevent the spread of Christianity which the Tokugawa Shogunate saw as a tool for colonisation. Many school children were there on excursion including these Year 11 students from Aichi Prefecture.

06/11/2019

Day 8 of Artsinspire Japan autumn tour we visited the very moving memorial to victims of the Nagasaki atomic bomb.

06/11/2019

Onta village consists of 10 families who maintain the techniques of a 300 year tradition of pottery making .

03/11/2019

Days 4, 5 & 6 of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour we are staying at a beautiful boutique hotel with only enough rooms for our group. The restaurant which serves French/Japanese fusion is in a 200 year old converted sake brewery.

03/11/2019

Day 4 Artsinspire Japan tour the lovely flowers at the Oita station toilets were in re-purposed plastic water bottles. We then arrived in Edo Era Mameda town of Hita City.

02/11/2019

Usuki today gave us a pottery experience, stone Buddhas, a Michelin starred Zen temple meal, more bamboo lights, live concerts, sake tasting and more.

01/11/2019

Day 2 of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour we helped light some of the tens of thousands of tea lights which will be part of the Usuki Takeyoi bamboo light festival which starts tomorrow. We were lucky to be able to take part in the preparation and ‘test run’. We also enjoyed beer, sake, and G&Ts before another delicious meal.

01/11/2019

After dropping our luggage at the hotel we visited Korakuen garden. A couple were posing for their wedding photos with the borrowed scenery of Koraku Castle. Next stop was Imbe Bizen pottery town to see the wonderful work of Sakae Isezaki, the 4th generation potter of the Isezaki family. He had just opened his large climbing kiln after the annual 2 week firing and very kindly explained the process by which the different effects are gained with the use of heat, ash, charcoal and placement and no glaze. The day was topped off with a delicious meal.

30/10/2019

Day 1 Artsinspire Japan autumn tour 2019 and our first train is the ‘Hello Kitty’ Haruka Express from Kansai Airport to Shin Osaka.

29/09/2019

TeamLab whose installation at Mifuneyama is on the itinerary of the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour will also be part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Three screen-based works from the acclaimed Japanese collective.

27/09/2019

A little more than a month to go until the Artsinspire Japan autumn tour 2019! I'm very excited that the TeamLab installation 'A Forest Where Gods Live' (at the magnificent garden Mifuneyama Rakuen created by feudal lord Shigeyoshi Nabeshima in 1845) has been added to the itinerary.
https://www.teamlab.art/e/mifuneyamarakuen

Jul 12 - Nov 04, 2019 Mifuneyama Rakuen, Takeo Hot Springs, Kyushu, Japan

16/09/2019

Those of you in Melbourne may like to go to the Japan Culture and Arts Festival at Collingwood Town Hall on October 27.
https://www.facebook.com/japancultureandartfestival/

In 2020 the Japan Culture and Art Festival will be on Sunday 11th of October at Collingwood Town Hall.

12/09/2019

If you're going to be in Japan in early October - maybe for the rugby in Oita prefecture - here are a great couple of tours in one of my favourite towns, Usuki.
https://en.t-oita.jp/archives/activity_en/167871
https://en.t-oita.jp/archives/activity_en/161801

Condition setting Period  ～ The required time The participation charge Category Bus Experience Gourmet Other Walking RWC2019 Area Key word Bus   【2019 Oct. OMOTENASHI】 Usuki Stone Buddha (National Treasure) & Castle Town Bus Tour ～ Exploring the Undiscovered Stone Buddha Village and Footpa...

04/07/2019

21/06/2019

See the Japan spring tour April 17 - 30, 2020 full itinerary and a map of our stops. https://www.myjapantour.com/tours/japan-spring-cherry-blossom-tour/ This is tour is timed for
later blooming cherry blossoms in some less visited locations.

10/06/2019

See one of Japan's 3 'naked festivals', samurai and merchant townscapes, ancient bonsai, the weeping cherries of north central Japan, traditional sake making,
and the various delights of Tokyo on Artsinspire Japan Tours spring 2020 itinerary. Email [email protected] for the exciting itinerary.

09/04/2019

On the Nakasendo from Magome to Tsumago.

09/04/2019

On the Nakasendo from Magome to Tsumago

09/04/2019

Enjoying an excellent meal in our traditional inn, Fujioto Ryokan, in Tsumago village on the Nakasendo old postal route fro Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto

07/04/2019

In the daytime, the Inuyama Matsuri floats are brought together below the castle. One at a time they are presented to the Shinto Shrine and the marionettes on the top level of each float perform. There seems to be more crazy dog stuff here than anywhere else in Japan!

07/04/2019

The parade of night floats at Inuyama Matsuri is exhilarating. Each float has 365 candle lit lanterns which sway and sometimes catch alight when the 8 ton, wooden wheeled float is dramatically dragged around a corner. After seeing the floats we enjoyed a kaiseki meal dressed in our yukata.

06/04/2019

Perfect weather and cherry blossoms in full bloom on the Philosophers’ Walk in Kyoto

05/04/2019

Another full day visiting Arashiyama and the house of potter Kawai Kanjro. Some in the group also went to the Geisha spring dances.