travel

  • The Paths of Glory: Yokohama Foreign Cemetery
    October 20th, 2009By Iain Maloney
    During difficult times, it is always comforting to know that you are not alone, that others have stood where you stand, have gone through what you’re going through and come out the other side. Regardless of how adventurous we feel when first we board the plane that takes us from home, the route that is » Continue Reading
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  • The “Wild West” of Japan
    September 28th, 2009By Jamie Rockers
    With lots of wide, open spaces, farmland, and clear, cerulean blue skies, Hokkaido could certainly be called the “wild west” of Japan (ignore the fact that it’s in a far eastern country and is in the northernmost part of it). It’s even possible to see black and white spotted dairy cows contently grazing and noble-looking » Continue Reading
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  • Shirakawa-koen: A Work of Art.
    September 28th, 2009By Iain Maloney
    I find attending art exhibitions in Japan to be a frustrating experience. The prices are often extortionate, the pieces badly displayed, and the visitors herded through like cattle on their way to an abattoir. Exhibitions of work by artists like Monet, Dali, Van Gogh et al are focused solely on getting us in front of » Continue Reading
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  • Gujo-Hachiman: Are You Dancing?
    September 24th, 2009By Iain Maloney
    Gujo is rightly famous for it’s dance festival, considered amongst the top three in the country by whoever decides these things. Initiated over 400 years ago in an act of socialist generosity by Endo Yoshitaka, the festival was meant as a way of levelling Japan’s rigid social hierarchy and bringing the whole community together. Today » Continue Reading
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  • Himeji Castle
    August 5th, 2009By Iain Maloney
    Himeji Castle was probably the first part of Japan I ever saw. I don’t remember it happening but I’ve been watching Bond films all my life, and You Only Live Twice is on UK television a couple of times a year without fail. In the film, for those who haven’t seen it, Bond follows the » Continue Reading
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  • Shikoku Pilgrimage IV: The Meaning of the Gate
    June 9th, 2009By Joe
    When my parents first came to Japan, they were amazed at how, on the one hand, everything appeared so Western – the clothes, the cars, the hotels – but how, on the other hand, beneath the Western exterior, you could not help but feel that you did not really have a » Continue Reading
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  • Taking a vacation in Japan with your best friend
    May 28th, 2009By Reed
    If you are like me you probably feel bad enough that you have to leave your dog locked up all day while you go to work. I can imagine my poor baby sitting by the door waiting for me to get home so she can finally go for a walk outside. When taking a vacation » Continue Reading
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  • Crushing Fun
    May 12th, 2009By Syrbastyian
    Some trivial data about Tokyo: The residential population is around 11 million. Now the population in Tokyo on any given weekday 9:00 am ~ 7:00 pm is said to increase to between 20 million to 22 million people, depending on whose data/statistics you use. That is a lot of people, to » Continue Reading
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  • Shikoku Pilgrimage III: How Long Will I Last?
    May 8th, 2009By Joe
    On the road leading up to the 10th temple, we ran into a toothless old man, who beckoned us over. He was wearing a dirty base-ball cap and a torn track-suit, and looked to be well into his eighties.  He made a gesture to indicate that he wanted a pen » Continue Reading
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  • Shikoku Pilgrimage II: Ten Cow Pictures
    April 27th, 2009By Joe
    In Zen Buddhism, the difficulty of enlightenment is sometimes depicted using a series of pictures, known as the ‘Ten Cow Pictures.’ Enlightenment is represented by a cow.  The searcher is represented by a boy. » Continue Reading
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