For four days, between the 12th and 15th of June, the 22nd International Travel Expo Hong Kong was held at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who visited the JAPANiCAN booth, which was part of the Nikko Alliance Group booth. We are all extremely grateful for your patronage.

At the JAPANiCAN booth we endeavored to introduce customers to our website, have customers sign up as members, and we ran a prize draw. I am pleased to announce that over 3,000 customers registered their e-mail addresses with us.

We are looking forward to keeping you all updated regarding Japanese accommodation, tours, and travel information.

As I said I might do in my last blog entry, I returned to Meigetsuin Temple this weekend.
Fortunately, the Ajisai (hydrangea) flowers that did not have much color last weekend had now turned bluer and looked a prettier shape. At Meigetsuin Temple, most of flowers you can see are blue, because this temple has chosen to raise a blue hydrangea called Hime-ajisai, whose name means "princess hydrangea".

Besides hydrangeas, you can find another source of pleasure at Meigetsuin Temple during this limited season.
If you pay an extra 500 yen entry fee, you can enter the back garden and see lots of irises in bloom. To hear the birds singing in this quiet place also brings you a more relaxed feeling.　

If you like paintings, there is the Yoh Shomei Museum on the way back to JR Kitakamakura Station.
Yoh Shomei is an artist known for gentle paintings and poems.

Due to the beautiful weather (despite it being rainy season), even the Enoden train line was so crowded that I had to wait about 30 minutes to get on at Kamakura Station. But, if you have a lot of energy and don't like spending time waiting, I recommend that you walk to the Hase area, where most of the Ajisai temples are located. From the west exit of Kamakura Station, it takes about 30 minutes to get there on foot. By walking, you can find a lot of interesting souvenirs on the way to Hase. My favorite souvenir is the "Great Buddha's foot candy". But if you are too tired to walk, taking a rickshaw is another interesting way to get there.　

If you get tired of temples, the following two places are also nice places to drop by. First is the lounge in the Kamakura Prince Hotel near Shichirigahama.　The other is Inamuragasaki Park, an eight-minute walk from Inamuragasaki station. From both these places (of course, only during June) you can enjoy the scenery of Ajisai flowers and the ocean at the same time! If you are lucky enough, you can also see Mt. Fuji in the background of Enoshima Island from Inamuragasaki park.

- Kamakura Prince Hotel
- Sunrise Kamakura Walking Tour　
- Kamakura Daibutsu　
- Meigetsuin Temple

I think most tourists like taking photographs. The guests who homestay with me usually purchase digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras in Akihabara electric town on the first day of their visit. (Canon seems to be popular!)

I recommend that photography enthusiasts like them visit the "Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography". It is located in Ebisu, in the center in Tokyo, and it is easily reached from the station. Interesting exhibitions are held there all the time.

From 14 June the "World Press Photo 2008" exhibition will be held there.

The "World Press Photo 2008" exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Opens: Saturday, 14 June

[Information]
Period: Saturday, 14 June 2008 - Sunday, 10 August 2008
Closed: Every Monday (Closed on Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday)
Venue: Images & Technology Gallery, B1F
Admission: Adults - Y700 (Y560)/College Students - Y600 (Y480)/High School and Junior High School Students, Persons over 65 - Y400 (Y320)

*The figures in parentheses refer to the group discount rate applicable to groups of 20 people or more and the discount rate applicable to members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
*Admission is free of charge for children of primary school age or younger, disabled persons and their carers.
*Admission is free of charge for persons aged 65 or older on the third Wednesday of each month.

[Access]
About 7 minutes on foot (via Sky Walk) from JR Ebisu station's east gate.

Yebisu Garden Place

[Address]
Yebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo

[Tel]
03-3280-0099

[Open]
10:00 - 18:00 (Thursday & Friday open until 20:00)
*Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. However, timings differ for every show at the first floor theater.
*For more information, please contact us.

[URL]
http://www.syabi.com/index_eng.shtml

[Hotels]
Near Roppongi Station

Near Ebisu Station

At the end of July last year I took a two-day trip to Kyoto to go and see its lotus flowers. I had heard that summers in Kyoto were hot and humid and, sure enough, when I arrived just standing still was enough to make me start sweating. If you go, carrying a bottle of water with you is pretty much essential.

Lotus flowers bloom early in the morning, so it is best to go and see them early. I left the hotel at 7 a.m. and made my way to Houkongouin, which is near Hanazono station on the JR Sagano line. During the lotus flowers' blooming season, Houkongouin--which is also known as the "Lotus Temple"--opens its doors at the extra-early time of 7 a.m., allowing visitors to come and admire the flowers. This special period is known as the kanrene.

Once I had finished walking around, I looked at my map and noticed that Ryoan-ji temple was closer than I expected, so I decided to head there. Ryoan-ji is well-known for its karesansui (dry landscape) rock garden. Despite being closer than I first though, walking would have still taken quite a long time, so I took a taxi.

When I mentioned to my taxi driver--who was looking very dapper with his braided gray hair--that I had come from Tokyo to see the lotus flowers, he asked me, "Have you been to Mimuroto-ji temple, which is also well-known for its flowers?" On his recommendation, I made my mind up to go to the temple, which is in Uji City, that afternoon.

Ryoan-ji temple was unexpectedly large and I passed the morning walking around the famous gardens, which were quiet. While stopping at the Kyouyouchi pond in the middle of the grounds, I watched a white bird fluttering elegantly over the blooming water lilies--a picture-perfect Kyoto image.

Although I would have liked to have spent more time there, I had to hurry back to my hotel to check out by 10 a.m. I put my bags into a locker at Kyoto station, and took the 30 minute train ride on the JR Uji line to Uji station. To save time I took another taxi to Mimuroto-ji temple.

Once through Mimuroto-ji temple's entrance there is a vermillion temple gate leading to a hill road covered in deep green foliage. According to the information board, there were also hydrangea and azalea gardens, as well as flowers that were viewable depending on the season. In front of the 180-year-old stately-looking main temple building sat 250 flowerpots, each holding a multicolored array of blooming lotus flowers.

You should try going to Kyoto and checking out the lotus flowers yourself this summer!

[Top spots for enjoying Kyoto's lotus flowers]
HoukongouinEntry fee: 400 yen
Near Hanazono station on the JR Sagano line
Kanrene (Lotus viewing season) 12 July 2008 - 3 August 2008
Early entry fee (7 a.m. opening): 400 yen

Mimuroto-ji templeEntry fee: 500 yen
Keihan Electric Railway - Mimurodo station

From my time living in Sendai, I remember the streets being at their liveliest and happiest during the Star Festival (Tanabata Matsuri), which is celebrated in early August.

It is held for 3 days every year, and there is always a wonderful fireworks display on the night before the festival. Tourists from far and wide gather here to enjoy the fireworks and the festival.

All of the streets are decorated with a variety of lanterns that are hand-made by the citizens of Sendai. Through all their hard work, the streets are made to look very beautiful. Also, both sides of the streets are lined with stalls selling various local specialties, and toys and games for children. It is also the time for summer clearance sales at the local department stores.

The streets are colored with a lively ambience. If you are planning to visit Japan, why not come and take part in this wonderful event in Sendai!?

"Ajisai" (hydrangea) season has come!!　

Kamakura is famous for these lovely flowers, but there are so many visitors, particularly this season, that it's hard to enjoy "Ajisai" in a relaxed mood.

Since I live in a town neighboring Kamakura, I made an early-morning visit to three "Ajisai temples". These temples are popular among tourists and are known for their beautiful Ajisai flowers that blossom in June.

Driving is not such a good idea on the weekend because of the heavy traffic. Taking the "Enoden" (a local train running between Kamakura and Fujisawa) is an easy and convenient way to get there.

The first Ajisai temple I visited was Jojuin Temple. It is an 8-minute walk from Hase Station or a 5-minute walk from Gokurakuji Station.

You can see very colorful Ajisai on both sides of the path. On a fine day, you can see Yuigahama beach from the top of a path, too. When I arrived at 7:30 in the morning there were very few people, so I was able to take as many pictures of the flowers as I liked.

The second place I visited was Hasedera Temple.

Just after the temple gates opened at 8 a.m., I was able to enter and see the Ajisai pathways without waiting. However, during the daytime on weekends, I hear that there is usually a long queue to get in, just like at an amusement park. Actually, when I walked past again at 5 p.m. just out of curiosity, there was a waiting time of more than 20 minutes to enter the pathway.

I also visited Meigetsuin Temple, which is a 10-minute walk from JR Kitakamakura Station.

The Ajisai at Meigetsuin seem to have only just started to bloom, so it is too early to see them now. Maybe next week you will able to enjoy more beautiful flowers.

If I have enough energy to get up early and go back there again next weekend, I will report on how they are then!

Nagoya is an industrial city whose firms are known around the world, and whose food culture differs from that of Tokyo and Osaka.

For example, the Mikawa region of Aichi Prefecture, where Nagoya is located, is famous for its Hatcho Miso, which is made from black soy beans. Many dishes using this miso are available here.

One such dish is "Miso Katsu": fried pork cutlet covered with a sauce made from Hatcho Miso, dried bonito broth and sugar. I was quite bewildered on first trying it, but the more I ate the more became addicted to the flavor.

Another dish is "Miso Nikomi Udon": udon noodles in miso soup. This dish consists of chewy udon noodles, chicken (known as kashiwa in Nagoya), fish sausage and spring onions stewed in a thick miso broth, and is served piping hot in an earthenware pot.

Lastly, "Miso Oden": a Japanese hodgepodge using miso as the sweet broth base in which daikon radish and konnyaku are stewed. Pork giblets and ribs are also added to the stew to create a dish known as "Doteni".

Nagoya has many other interesting dishes, but I'll save those for next time...

Kofu City, home of Yamanashi's prefectural offices, is about one and a half hours from Shinjuku by limited express train.

Once the train leaves Shinjuku, after passing for about 30 minutes through Tokyo's western residential districts, you reach the ever-popular foreign tourist destination of Mt. Takao. From here on though, you enter the mountains.

Then, once past Otsuki, where the railway diverges and the other line heads to Mt. Fuji, the train enters the tunnel at Sasago mountain pass. This tunnel, when it was opened in 1902, was Japan's longest at 4.7km and is known to have been very difficult to construct. Nowadays Japan has the Seikan Tunnel linking Hokkaido and Honshu which, at 53.9km in length, is not only over ten times the length of the Sasago Tunnel, but is the longest tunnel in the world.

When you emerge from the Sasago Tunnel, the Kofu Basin is visible from the left-hand-side of the train. Although now is the season to see the trees' beautiful green color, unfortunately the weather was cloudy.

The Kofu Basin is a region used for fruit cultivation, including peaches and grapes, and is best known as Japan's leading wine-producing area. In spring, this area's peach flowers are magnificent, and in winter the crisp air on a clear day after a fresh snowfall is equally breathtaking. This is undoubtedly one of the best landscapes you can view by train in all of Japan.

Yamanashi Prefecture used to be known as Kainokuni, or Kai Province. Kofu's name actually means "Capital of Kai Province," and hence the current Yamanashi prefectural offices are situated here. The current prefectural office annex building was built in 1930.

In front of Kofu Station stands the bronze statue of a feudal warlord from the Warring States period (1467-1568). The statue is of Takeda Shingen, who ruled this area around 400 years ago. Shingen was not only a brilliant strategist, but also a great statesman who oversaw the construction of a large-scale embankment on a river which kept flooding the area. As such, he is revered not only by the local people but is one of the most popular feudal warlords of the period throughout the whole of Japan. North of the station, less than 10 minutes away by bus, lies Takeda Shrine, where Takeda Shingen is enshrined.

Even onsen--hot springs--can be found within Kofu City.

Yumura Onsen is said to have a history of 1200 years, and Takeda Shingen himself loved bathing there. The waters are said to help with a range of ailments including muscular pain, joint pain, chronic gastric pain, poor circulation and fatigue.

Yamanashi's delights do not start and end with Mt. Fuji. There is plenty for you to come and enjoy in this prefectures fruits, history and hot springs.

Getting to Kofu

By JR Train: Approximately one hour and thirty minutes from Shinjuku via the Super Azusa limited express train service on the Chuo Line.

By highway bus: Approximately two hours from Shinjuku's west exit.

Takeda Shrine:
Approximately eight minutes by bus from Kofu Station's north exit.

Yumura Onsen:
Approximately 15 minutes by bus from Kofu Station Bus Terminal, platform 3.

"Inari" was originally worshipped as a deity of farming and grain; nowadays Inari is considered to be a god of all industrial activities and is located everywhere in Japan.

During the Edo period (1603-1867), a local Sendai lord started on a journey to Tokyo, which was then known as "Edo." He took his first break near "Tabidachi Inari" and prayed for a safe journey. "Tabidachi Inari" is named after this episode.

The small shrine between the street and the Hirose River is popular among local people who pray for safe travel and protection when driving.


There is a huge tree in the grounds of the shrine; it is estimated to be 200 years old and is protected by the city government.

Access to Tabidachi Inari
A five-minute walk from Nagamachi-ichome Station, which is 7 minutes from Sendai Station via Nanboku Line subway train.

I often go sailing with my friends on weekends.
The sailboat we use is moored in Yokohama Bayside Marina, one of the largest marinas in Asia.
There is an outlet mall near the bayside, which is designed to look like a harbor town in Nantucket on the east coast of the United States; you can find a lot of brand-name stores and fancy restaurants here.

The crew shows up at 10 a.m., as usual.
A fine and clear day. A westerly breeze of 8 knots.
As soon as we finish a quick check of the rigging, we set sail!

We stop the engine and put up the sails up just outside the port.
The skies are pure blue.
The wind and the waves are singing.
How glorious it is to enjoy the peaceful wonders of nature!

Looking at Yokohama Landmark Tower, the highest tower in Japan, and Bay Bridge, a huge bridge over Yokohama bay, from far out in the bay; they seem so small that it is easy to feel insignificant.

Yokohama: the port city that opens out to the world.
I was born in this city.
I live a peaceful life in this city.
I'm very proud of this city with its great sea.