Travel Around Japan

16/12/2011

The operating company of Tokyo Sky Tree, a new landmark of the Japanese capital, began accepting reservations for large group tours, exactly six months before its scheduled opening next May 22.

Reservations for entrance tickets to the 634-meter broadcasting tower, which has been certified as the world's tallest tower by Guinness World Records, were made available for groups of 25 people or more. Individual visitors and smaller groups can make reservations beginning March 22.

Expecting a huge crowd, the operator will allow entrance to only those with advance reservations for the first one and half months or so after the opening, and for up to 15,000 people per day.

The operator accepted reservations for large groups only via facsimile, and received more than 300 applications in less than two hours after the 10 a.m. start.

Those for individual visitors and smaller groups are expected to be accepted only on the Internet.

16/12/2011

An information booth opened in Sapporo, Hokkaido, at which homeless people offer assistance for tourists and sell the Japanese version of the Big Issue magazine, as part of efforts to help such people become financially independent.

The booth on the underground street connecting JR Sapporo Station and Odori Park is operated by five trained staff, who are or have been homeless, for 12 hours a day between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., according to Big Issue Sapporo, a supporting group for homeless people in the city.

The staffers provide directions to places in the neighborhood and information on events being held there for tourists.

The booth was opened after the group made a request to the Sapporo municipal government which owns the underground street to let the homeless have a place to sell the magazine, published in Japan by the Osaka-based Big Issue Japan Ltd. The local government offered the site for the booth free of charge on condition that it also provides guide services for tourists.

The 300-yen magazine, a self-support magazine for the homeless that originated in Britain, has been published twice a month in Japan since 2003 and covers a broad range of topics including business, social affairs and entertainment, the publisher said, adding that homeless people can earn 160 yen per copy sold.

16/12/2011

A stone monument in remembrance of the March 11 tsunami has been unveiled on a beach in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, the first of 500 such monuments planned to be built in the Pacific coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures.

The project was organized by a nationwide stone dealers association after its members took part in volunteer activities to repair tombstones damaged by the March disaster in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, and elsewhere.

On the front side of the granite monument, designed by art director Katsumi Asaba and unveiled at Kamaishi's Nebama beach last Friday, the year 2011 in kanji and 3.11 in numerals are engraved.

There is also a Quick Response barcode on a metal sheet pasted on the stone through which people can access video footage of the tsunami and scenery before the disaster through their mobile phones.

The organizer is planning to establish the monuments over about 10 years at notable locations, such as train stations and spots reached by the tsunami, throughout the Pacific coast of the three hardest-hit prefectures.

Overseas and domestic designers, as well as ordinary citizens, are expected to be involved in designing the new monuments.

08/06/2011

A jazz bar that recently opened near JR Tokyo Station has been hosting free live jazz performances every night, attracting young and old music lovers after work.

''got music? Cafe & Bar'' which has been operating since May 13 is modeled on a New York hotel restaurant and includes among its specialties traditional American dishes such as Cajun food.

The cafe serves the products of Weaver's Coffee & Tea based in Northern California in a deli style cafe on the first floor.

Live jazz performances by professional musicians are staged on the second floor with a capacity of about 30 seats.

08/06/2011

Tokyo Sky Tree, under construction as the world's tallest self-standing tower, will be opened to visitors on May 22 next year, the operator Tobu Tower Sky Tree Co. said Tuesday.

Visitors to the 634-meter tower in Tokyo's Sumida Ward can tour an observation deck 350 meters high for 2,000 yen and another deck 450 meters high for an additional 1,000 yen from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., it said, adding that entrance will be restricted to advance reservation only in the first six weeks to avoid congestion.

The construction of the new communications tower began in July 2008 and is expected to be completed in February 2012. The tower will be fitted with antennas for terrestrial digital broadcasting and linked to a commercial complex at its base.

03/06/2011

For diners looking to eat out alone, a beef barbecue restaurant in Tokyo's Ueno district has taken the concept of a table for one to a new level.

While ''yakiniku'' barbecue restaurants are traditionally venues for social eating, where multiple diners sit around a table-top grill, Yakiniku Hitori, literally ''grilled meat alone,'' is a boon to lovers of the food who hesitate to enter restaurants by themselves, with partitioned seating that lets them enjoy their beef in privacy.

Manager Toshihiro Fujita said the restaurant near JR Ueno train station has been popular among people on business trips and visitors from abroad. Customers can read documents and study after finishing their meals in the compartmentalized space.

They can order karubi, harami and other portions of beef per slice and can also order beer and other alcoholic beverages.

The restaurant with 24 seats is at the back of Ueno Marui department store.

03/06/2011

White tigers on display at Kagoshima zoo

A zoo in the city of Kagoshima, southwestern Japan, has put two white tigers on public display.

Hirakawa Zoological Park first put a male on display on Thursday as part of a plan to show it and a female alternately.

The while tigers from China, both 2 years old and 2 meters long, are a white variation of the Bengal tiger, according to the zoo.

The zoo has asked the public to suggest names for the animals from June 1 to 30 which can be submitted by postcard.

22/04/2011

Performers shove dishes from the stage during ''Mibu Kyogen,'' a traditional comedic drama designated in Japan as a significant intangible folk cultural asset, at the Buddhist temple Mibudera in Kyoto. The popular dish-smashing routine is called ''Horaku Wari''.

18/04/2011

Huge parfaits mimicking Tokyo Sky Tree, the world's highest self-standing tower currently under construction, are drawing sightseers to a Japanese sweet cafe in the capital's Sumida Ward.

Sakura Cafe Mukojima, located near the foot of the tower, is serving candy-coated parfaits 63.4 centimeters high to commemorate the tower reaching the 634 meter mark last month.

Of the two types of parfaits served, green tea-flavored ''iki'' mimics the tower when it is lit up in blue, while ''miyabi'' made with blueberry mousse represents the spirit of the capital in the Edo Period (1600-1868) with its traditional ''Edo purple'' color, according to the cafe.

The cafe is also offering Strawberry Sky Tree parfait, limited to five per day, until the end of April.

14/04/2011

Floats lit up by lanterns parade through the streets of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, during the Takayama Spring Festival on April 14, 2011. Around 74,000 people attended the festival, about 30 percent lower than the previous year, apparently due to the March 11 quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

14/04/2011

Hundreds of people flocked to see cherry blossoms against the backdrop of a clear sky Thursday at the Finance Ministry's Osaka Mint Bureau in an annual event marking the full arrival of spring in the western Japan commercial city.

Some 800 visitors entered the gate of Cherry Blossom Lane as the ''Cherry Blossom Viewing in Osaka'' event kicked off. The bureau decided to carry out the event after considering canceling it following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

More than 350 cherry blossom trees in 128 species are planted on the lane located in the compound of the government bureau.

The bureau, which organizes the event running through April 20, has canceled the evening light-up of the trees in consideration for those afflicted by the disaster.

Many events and festivals across the country have been canceled in response to the national disaster.

The admission fee is free, while a donation box will be set up for quake and tsunami victims.

12/04/2011

The operator of Tokyo Disneyland officially announced Tuesday that it will reopen the amusement park Friday following the suspension of its operations due to the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that hit northeastern and eastern Japan.

Oriental Land Co. determined it could resume operations of Disneyland in Chiba Prefecture smoothly as Tokyo Electric Power Co. has said it will in principle end the rolling blackouts in eastern Japan which it has conducted to conserve electricity as the disaster crippled one of its nuclear power plants in Fukushima Prefecture.

As part of efforts to conserve energy, Disneyland will be opened from 8 a.m. as usual but will close at 6 p.m., four hours earlier than usual, for the time being.

08/04/2011

Do you think Japan is dangerous now?
Please see the actual condition on the map.

The severe disaster area is the east coast of Japan.
Many people were dead, most of them were killed by great tsunami.
The tsunami destroyed a part of Fukushima nuclear plant.
Atomic reactors were stopped automatically, the cooling system was broken.
Now radiation is leaking a little and many engineers are making desperate efforts to stop.

Tokyo has returned common. Amount of radiation in Tokyo area is only slightly-higher than common.

West Japan is quite safe.
And the disaster area enter the first stages of recovery.

Few foreign tourists come to Japan now.
The people in many sightseeing spots is weeping.
Your travel to Japan encourages the people.
Please love Japan.

06/04/2011

Cherry blossoms in bloom

Cherry blossoms are seen in bloom in Kinshi Park in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on April 6, 2011, against the backdrop of the Tokyo Sky Tree communications tower. Cherry blossoms were in full bloom in metropolitan Tokyo.

06/04/2011

World's 1st comprehensive Buddhist museum opens in Kyoto


Ryukoku Museum, believed to be the world's first comprehensive Buddhist museum, opened Tuesday in Kyoto's Shimogyo Ward.

The three-story museum with a basement was launched by Ryukoku University, a private university based on the spirit of the Shin Buddhism school, to introduce the origin and history of Buddhism, as well as various cultural assets associated with the world renown religion.

In addition to its permanent exhibits, stored items at the university will be on display in featured exhibitions scheduled to be held several times a year. The articles possessed by the university include artifacts collected during an early 20th century expedition in central Asia led by Japanese Buddhist leader and explorer Kozui Otani.

In commemoration of the museum's opening, it is currently holding a special exhibit titled, ''Buddha and Shinran,'' displaying some 660 Buddhist statues and scriptures from Japan and other Asian countries. It will run until March 25, 2012, to coincide with the 750th anniversary next year of the passing of Shinran, the founder of Shin Buddhism.

Admission is 500 yen for adults, 400 yen for senior citizens 65 and older and for college students, and 300 yen for high school students. Junior high school students and younger children can get in for free.

05/04/2011

66 things to do this spring

As a result of the March 11 disaster, the capital has seen countless festivals, concerts and art events postponed, so much so that it looked like spring might be cancelled altogether. Understandably, many Tokyoites have Tohoku in their thoughts, and the urge to enjoy the hanami party season is somew

02/04/2011

A pair of giant pandas leased from China was shown to the public Friday at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, marking the first public viewing of pandas there in three years.

About 3,000 people lined up before the 10 a.m. opening of the zoo, prompting it to open 15 minutes early.

The appearance of the two -- a male named Ri Ri and a female named Shin Shin -- coincided with the reopening of the zoo from a temporary closure following the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster in northeastern Japan.

By 11:00 a.m., the number of visitors reached around 8,000, double the daily average number of visitors, according to the zoo, while a huge crowd of people surrounded the stall for the pandas.

Minami Fujioka, a 22-year-old artist from Tokyo said she had lined up in front of the zoo since Thursday afternoon. ''I was relieved to see the pandas being relaxed. They lifted my spirit,'' she said.

Shin Shin is currently showing signs of being in heat, zoo officials said. The two are usually kept separately but may be put together for breeding purposes, and in such a circumstance public viewing may be suspended, they said.

The zoo and three other facilities run by the Tokyo government -- Tama Zoological Park, Inokashira Park Zoo and Tokyo Sea Life Park -- are waiving admission fees for quake victims until April 10. They are also considering inviting such victims currently residing in shelters in Tokyo.

''About 300 such victims are visiting the zoo. I hope (the visit) will help soothe their feelings,'' said Teruyuki Komiya, the zoo's director.

The two pandas were supposed to make their debut on March 22 after traveling from China to Japan on Feb. 21, but the schedule was postponed due to the quake disaster.

The showing of giant pandas is the first for Ueno Zoo since panda Ling Ling died in April 2008.

30/01/2011

A street in Tokyo's Shin-Okubo district lined with Korean restaurants is crowded with people on Jan. 21, 2011. The area has become a hot spot for fans of Korean culture, as many stores feeding their interests have opened, including restaurants, stores selling pop star paraphernalia, and language schools.

Tokyo's Shin-Okubo district has become a hot spot for Japanese fans of Korean culture, as many stores feeding their interests have opened amid a boom in Korean pop culture in Japan.

30/01/2011

Kawasaki and three other cities with large coastal industrial areas will hold an event next month to discuss how to draw more people to popular factory night view tours.

The tours, pioneered by officials in Kawasaki, have gained popularity especially among women with participants attracted to the novelty of viewing big industrial facilities spewing flares and steam and bathed in sparkling lights.

Officials of the city of Kawasaki, south of Tokyo, invited those from Hokkaido's Muroran, Yokkaichi in Mie Prefecture and Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture to the ''night factory viewing summit'' planned for Feb. 23.

14/01/2011

A shopping area serving a number of popular cuisines from across the nation has opened in JR Tokyo Station, attracting many travelers passing through a major railway entrance of the Japanese capital.

The Gransta Dining area was launched in December coinciding with the full opening of bullet train services linking Tokyo and Aomori on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line.

The facility features 16 shops, including those offered by well-known Italian restaurant Al che-cciano in Yamagata Prefecture and beef tongue specialty restaurant Rikyu in Sendai.

The Nippon Shokudo shop sells French dishes which are served in dining cars of express trains with sleeping berths such as the Cassiopeia and the Hokutosei.

Travelers may also purchase box lunches called ''ekiben,'' which are sold at train stations, at the Nippon no Ekiben shop in the complex.

Since 2007, Tokyo Station has been attracting restaurants and sweet shops from wide areas of Japan.

Last spring, ecute Tokyo, another commerce facility which showcases about 30 shops not limited to food stores, opened inside the station building.

12/01/2011

Sunset over Mount Fuji as seen from the Yoro river on the Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture. The chimney stacks are fossil fuel power stations along the coastline of Tokyo Bay. The smoke is being blown to the south due to blustery winter winds.

07/01/2011

Buildings from a fortress in Tokyo Bay that was submerged in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake will be opened for public viewing in late January in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Fort No. 3, built on a manmade island by the Imperial Japanese Army to protect the capital, was completed in 1921 after around 30 years of construction, but the quake two years later caused the fortress to collapse and left a third of it underwater.

Three recovered buildings -- a searchlight building, an artillery storage depot and an observatory, will be opened for public viewing at a park in Yokosuka where they have been relocated.

The thick concrete buildings were designed to endure shelling and each weighs around 500 to 900 tons.

The submerged fort was long viewed as a nuisance blocking the Uraga Channel sea route off Yokosuka and the cause of occasional maritime accidents.

The transport ministry has completed excavation of the fortress, which began in 2000, and it handed over some of the recovered buildings in October last year to the Yokosuka city government.

The buildings were relocated to a park in the port city's Natsushimacho district.

As the buildings are fenced off, people wishing to view them are required to make reservations by e-mailing Action Oppama. ([email protected])

07/01/2011

Bears force tighter rules for visitors to Shiretoko Peninsula:

Appearances by brown bears at a popular tourist spot on the Shiretoko Peninsula in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido are leading to tighter regulations on tourist activities in the area.

Starting in May, visitors to Shiretoko Goko Lakes, a popular sightseeing spot on the peninsula, which is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in northeastern Hokkaido, will be required to pay a fee and have guides accompany them during certain seasons.

The site, visited by about 500,000 people annually, receives dozens of reports of visitors seeing or encountering bears every year, though no cases of any injuries have been reported so far.

The new regulations, mainly on using the boardwalks that allow visitors to get around the area to view the lakes, are aimed at ensuring safety for visitors as well as preventing them from disturbing the bears' habitat, according to the Environment Ministry which has jurisdiction over the site.

From May through July, when the bears are most active, visitors will have to pay a fee and join a tour led by a guide when using the boardwalks.

From August through October when tourism peaks, visitors will need to pay to use the boardwalks and take a short paid lesson on how to behave if the bears appear. The park will also restrict the number of people on the boardwalks as well as the number of visitors per day during the period.

No fee will be required to use the boardwalks in November until the site closes for the season at the end of the month.

05/01/2011

Porpoise protectors invite people to boat tours:

An ecological group studying local populations of the vulnerable finless porpoise has been calling on people to take part in its survey tours in the Seto Inland Sea in western Japan.

The group in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture, has studied the population and biology of the sea mammal called ''sunameri'' in Japanese off the city's Ushimado area under a five-year project through 2014.

The group organized sunameri watching boat tours in October and November last year and plans to do likewise in April or later, it said, adding the sea mammals are harder to spot from the deck as they rarely swim in a large herd and jump out of the water.

Group head Masahiro Onozuka said, ''I cannot assure all participants that they will spot sunameri during our tours...but I hope they will discover the greatness of the Seto Inland Sea.''

A survey in 2000 suggested that about 7,600 finless porpoises inhabit the Seto Inland Sea, while Toshio Kasuya, a whale expert and former professor at Mie University, said the population has shrunk to about one-third that in the 1970s probably because of environmental changes caused by landfill development.

02/01/2011

Okuno Island in the Seto Inland Sea, known as the site of chemical weapon plants before and during World War II, now attracts tourists aiming to see rabbits living in the wild as 2011 marks the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese zodiac.

Visitors may spot rabbits as they walk around sites where chemical arms were produced, such as former poison gas storages on the small island in Takehara, Hiroshima Prefecture.

The rabbits on the island total about 300 and descend from eight rabbits released in the wild in 1971 in warm weather and an environment without many natural enemies, according to Okuno Island Visitor Center, an Environment Ministry facility.

02/01/2011

Children play near the snow-covered Peace Statue in Nagasaki on Dec. 31, 2010. Heavy snow hit the western Japan city before New Year's Day.

02/01/2011

Photographers and tourists watch the sun coming up from behind Mt. Fuji, Japan's tallest mountain southwest of Tokyo, near Lake Motosu on Jan. 1, 2011.

25/12/2010

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News: Zoos using smartphones to attract visitors

Kyoto City Zoo in the city of Kyoto has released a free iPhone application in August containing information and quizzes about its animals. The application provides a map of the zoo as well as the location of nearby animals when an iPhone owner visits the zoo.

The application, developed jointly by the zoo and an institute funded by the Kyoto city government, has been downloaded over a thousand times, according to zoo officials.

Noichi Zoological Park of Kochi Prefecture in Konan has released an application priced 230 yen with a local company, which was released in November.

The application, for iPhones and smartphones using the Android operating system, provides information about the zoo's animals, offers samples of their ''talk'' such as ''I'm hungry'' and allows animal sounds to set for alarms.

24/12/2010

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Tourist Spot:　Huis Ten Bosch theme park in Nagasaki Pref.

Visitors stroll along a walkway inside Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park resort modeled on a mediaeval 17th century Dutch town, in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture。For the first half of fiscal 2010, the theme park recorded its first net profit since opening in 1992.

22/12/2010

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Tokyo Sky Tree tower on solstice day：

The shadow of Tokyo Sky Tree tower, under construction in Tokyo's Sumida Ward and already topping the 500-meter mark, extends about 5 kilometers across the Arakawa River on Dec. 22, 2010, the winter solstice day marking the shortest day and longest night of the year.

21/12/2010

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Information: Capybaras get hot bath treat

Capybaras warm themselves in a hot water pool at Izu Shaboten Park in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, on Dec. 21, 2010. Yuzu citron fruits were thrown into the ''bath'' following a Japanese practice on the winter solstice.

21/12/2010

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Popular Spot: Well at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine popular as 'power spot'


A well in a garden of Tokyo's Meiji Shrine has drawn masses of visitors who believe it is a ''power spot'' where they can experience ''positive energy.''

The Kiyomasa no Ido (Kiyomasa's well) is said to have been dug by famous feudal warlord Kato Kiyomasa, whose family, according to the shrine, had a mansion in the area during the Edo period, although it is unknown if Kiyomasa lived there.

The site became famous after some television programs featured it with people claiming that their luck improved when they used pictures of the well as background screens on their cellphones.

Visitors must pay 500 yen to enter the garden and will need to obtain a numbered ticket to view the well.

20/12/2010

Shibuya (渋谷) is a popular place for youth to hang out and is one of Tokyo's most
crowded places in fact the Shibuya Station Crossing is known as the buissiest
intersection in the world.

It is even especialy popular among the younger women as it offers some of the
most trendy shopping centers and fashions oriented stores.

Following the opening of the Yamanote Line in 1885, Shibuya began to emerge as
a railway terminal for southwest Tokyo, and eventually as a major commercial and
entertainment center. Shibuya was incorporated as a village in 1889, as a town in
1909, as a ward of Tokyo City in 1932, and as a ward of Tokyo Metropolis in 1943.
The present-day special ward was established on March 15, 1947.

Shibuya has achieved great popularity among young people in the last thirty
years. There are several famous fashion department stores in Shibuya.

During the late 1990s, Shibuya also became known as the center of the IT industry
in Japan. It was often called "Bit Valley" in English, a pun on "Bitter Valley", the
literal translation of "Shibuya".

20/12/2010

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Japanese Culture: Kabuki

Kabuki is one of the traditional theater forms of Japan.
"Ka" means "to sing", "bu" means "to dance" and "ki" means "to perform".
In the literature, Kabuki actors perform and dance to songs on a stage.

For more Info: http://www.travel-around-japan.com/j61-kabuki.html

20/12/2010

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EVENT: Season's penguin marching begins at Asahiyama Zoo

Asahiyama Zoo in Japan's northernmost island prefecture of Hokkaido began the season's popular penguin marching attraction over the weekend.

Visitors were delighted when the gate of the penguin aquarium opened, and 15 king penguins and two gentoo penguins dashed out into a snowy field in the zoo and walked about 500 meters to their feeding ground in about 40 minutes.

Some of them slid on their bellies on the snow.

''The penguins were very cute when they wobbled and flapped their wings,'' said Kiyoko Sugiyama, a 59-year-old nursery staff member from Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The winter event was modeled after the bird's behavior in the wild in which they walk in groups to the sea to capture their food, according to the zoo.

It also helps improve their health ahead of their mating season in spring, the zoo said.

The zoo plans to continue the marching through about mid-March when the snow disappears.

Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa has been attracting visitors across Japan due to its unique way of exhibiting animals under the concept of providing a relaxing environment for each species.