The life size Totoro and the House of Kurosuke were closed to the public from the start of the pandemic until May 2022. They did have a few special events at the house during that period. They reopened to the public in June 2022. However, there have been some majorRead More →
Hiking in the Totoro Forest in Sayama Hills in Tokorozawa. Information on an easy hiking trail for families in the Totoro Foundation area of the Sayama Hills. Read More →
Naritasan Kawagoe Betsuin Hongyoin Temple is a branch of the Naritasan Shinsoji Buddhist Temple of Narita, Chiba. It has a very interesting, but complex history with many layers of detail. The founder Ishikawa Tomegoro, with the financial backing of wealthy locals, restored what was previously the ruined Hongyoin Temple toRead More →
Finland No Mori in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture where you can meet the real Santa all year round. You can also hang out in a Hammock cafe, get ice-cream in a Moomin mug and / or pick up some delicious cheese too! Information for the 2022 Santa Claus meet and greetRead 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 →
Candy Craft in Kawagoe Today, we went to watch the Candy Man in Kawagoe. Mr Suzuki is a performance artist, who sculpts candy into different shapes, characters and forms. It is an art form from the Edo period known as Amezaiku in Japan. From what I have seen of his work,Read More →
Manhole Cover Art, Saitama prefecture, Japan Manhole Cover Art I used to think I was an observant person, until my cousin sent me an article about manhole covers in Japan. I was in Japan more than 10 years when she sent me the link about the ornate manhole covers here. MyRead More →
I really enjoyed visiting Tokyo Dome City with my kids. It took us two hours to reach our final destination, but it was completely worth the journey. First, we went to Tokyo’s first themed café, the Moomin Bakery and Café. We escaped having to queue to be seated by opting to haveRead More →