Jul 5, 2016 | Area Guides, Experiences, Osaka, Photography
About a ten minute bike ride from our flat is Shitennoji (四天王寺), officially the oldest, active Buddhist temple in all of Japan. Pretty darn neato! And while the temple itself seems nice, what took me there was not the grounds themselves but what happens on the 21st...
Jun 21, 2016 | Commentary, Experiences, Photography, Tokyo
TOKYO: 18 YEARS LATER 1997~2015 By no means am I “old,” though I am without question getting older. Subtle heralds of this fact make their unwelcome presence known from time to time. Things such as not being able to drink all night and be completely hangover...
May 11, 2016 | Area Guides, Culture, Experiences, Osaka, Reviews
I’m not a big museum guy. I wish I were. I certainly enjoy learning and think it’s important to see items of significance in person to help make the relevance of history come alive, but most of the time the experience is so static that it’s tough for...
Apr 14, 2016 | Culture, Experiences, Photography, Sendai
I suppose I should get around to wrapping up the remaining posts I’d intended to write while still in Sendai now that I’m back to a semi-regular posting schedule (knock on wood). While we’re certainly enjoying the living hell out of Osaka so far, I definitely miss the...
Apr 7, 2016 | Culture, Experiences, Osaka, Photography
Another year, another Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) season. Last year we were in Tokyo for the blossoms and had a great time at Shinjuku Gyoen Park. This year I was personally lucky enough to have two good sessions on the same weekend. Last Saturday, I headed out to...
Nov 3, 2015 | Area Guides, Culture, Photography, Sendai
We’d been in Sendai for almost 5 months before finally getting up to the site of Sendai Castle, which is odd considering it’s, at most, a 15 minute bike ride away. I think one of the reasons we kept putting it off was that we knew there wasn’t a...
