Lucky bags Japan – Lucky bags are a very popular New Year’s tradition. I first happened upon lucky bags quite by accident when I was a student here. It was early in the New Year and myself and my friends were shopping in Takasaki station. They had a sealed HelloRead More →
Kuki Shobu Park is a prefectural park that is best known for the lake that it is centered around. It is quite picturesque so you often see photos of it on Instagram. Particularly since they put in an “Anywhere Door“. Although, it is not very big and there isn’t aRead More →
In the 20th episode of the second season of the anime Yama no Susume, “Climb of Encouragement“, you can see a beautiful park with quirky buildings, that looks completely fictional. Fortunately, for all of us, it’s an actual park in the rural area of Hanno, right beside Tokyo. The park isRead More →
Santastic Tochigi – In my search for Santa, one prefecture that stood out for having a good selection of Santa events and attractions was TOCHIGI. So my family of six took to the road to do a bit of reconnaissance. Thanks to the completion of a new stretches of highway, Tochigi is veryRead More →
Imperial Palace Gardens I had the great fortune and pleasure to serendipitously see the Emperor and Empress last week. The chances of that happening are almost as slim as winning the lottery. It was night-time and I was stopped from crossing the road by a policeman. I instinctively knew whatRead More →