Famous for its refined cuisine, crafts and gardens, Kyoto is considered by many Japanese as where their spiritual hearts reside. The city is not as vigorous as Tokyo or Osaka, the pace is slower and people are dressed less fashionable, but hundreds years of cultural deposition soon reveal their attractiveness…

We spent one day at Hakone on our way from Tokyo to Kyoto. Hakone is famous for its hot springs. At Hakone-Yumoto (箱根湯本), hotels are built on the hill along the river, most of them have public bath houses using water from hot springs and provide exquisite Japanese cuisine, normally…

Japan is the first country we visit whose language we don't understand. Luckily, almost all names of the places, subway stations, streets, stores and restaurants, are written in Chinese characters - Kanji (漢字). It makes our lives a lot of easier in this foreign city. We can instantly recognize and…

Tokyo is the most unique city in the world to showcase the fusion of east and west, tradition values and modern sensations. There is always a long line in front of Kabuki-za (歌舞伎座), people wash their hands before entering shrines and Statue of Hachiko (忠犬公像) is still a popular meeting…

There are countless temples and shrines in Japan, especially in Kyoto. While temples are for Buddhists, shrines are the worship places for Japanese traditional Shinto (神道教). Shinto Shrines are marked by its symbolical gate, Torii (鸟居). The most famous, also the most photographed, shrine is Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) in…

Most Japanese food taste quite light, (except noodles, they are very salty), and simple. A small portion of salted vegetables (咸菜) or Sashimi can be put on top of rice to make a dish. In fact, the rice itself is an ingredient. It is fresh and fragrant so the whole…

We arrived in Tokyo at Sunday night (4/25). I woke up at 4AM in the morning the next day and couldn't get to sleep any longer, so I decided to have a morning walk around the city. Our hotel is only 5-minute-walk to Ginza (银座). With the reputation of one…