Patrick Kelly

Exploring Aomori Prefecture

Aomori sits at the northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu, but it feels like a world of its own. And while the prefecture is famous for apples, the Nebuta Festival, and seafood, those are only the beginning. It's the kind of place where every region has its own character—and that's exactly what makes exploring it so rewarding.Stretching nearly 95 miles (150 kilometers) from east to west, Aomori is far larger than many first-time visitors expect. No single city defines the prefecture. Inst...

Gooz: The Rare Convenience Store That Was Ahead of its Time

Japan’s convenience stores hardly need an introduction. For many travelers, stopping by 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, or Lawson for an onigiri, tamago sando (egg sandwich), or late-night snack has become almost as much a part of visiting Japan as riding the Shinkansen.

But look beyond the country’s three biggest chains and there is a whole other side to Japan’s konbini culture. Hokkaido has Seicomart, Hakodate has Hasegawa Store, western Japan has Poplar, and smaller regional chains can still be foun...

The Last Journey North: Remembering Japan’s Cassiopeia Overnight Express

In Japan, long-distance travel has been compressed into hours. What once required a full day can now be completed sometimes before finishing a meal, as high-speed trains carry passengers across the country with remarkable speed and efficiency.But until recently, there was another way to travel. On certain evenings, a train would depart Tokyo for Japan’s far north. Passengers settled into private rooms, watched the city fade, and awoke the next morning in a different landscape. This was the Cassi...

Showa Kinen Park: Tokyo’s Summer Escape

If you need a break from Tokyo’s crowds, Showa Kinen Park (Showa Memorial Park) offers a welcome change of scenery without leaving the city. Just 30 to 40 minutes west.

Traveling During Japan’s Rainy and Typhoon Seasons: What to Expect

Many travelers planning a trip to Japan are surprised to learn that much of the country experiences both a rainy season and a typhoon season each year. While the names...

Chofu: One of Tokyo’s Most Surprising Day Trips

Few places in Tokyo bring together as many different sides of Japan as Chofu. In just a single afternoon, you can visit one of Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temples, try a bowl of centuries-old soba, stroll through the capital’s largest rose garden, and explore the headquarters of Japan’s national astronomical observatory.

Despite only being a short train ride from central Tokyo, Chofu reveals a side of the capital many visitors never see.

Located in western Tokyo, Chofu is best known for Jinda...

Makino Memorial Garden: Tokyo’s Secret Enclosure

Tokyo is a concrete jungle, so green space isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind for most people. Yet hidden away in a quiet corner of Nerima-ku is Makino Memorial Garden, a small garden and museum dedicated to the legacy of Tomitaro Makino, the “Father of Japanese Botany.”

And while easy to overlook, the garden is something of a hidden gem. It preserves hundreds of plant varieties collected by Makino— including rare ones, like Sueko-zasa bamboo and Sendaiya-zakura cherry trees — a...

The Tokaido Lumière Express: How Japan Reimagined the Sleeper Train

An overnight bullet train almost sounds like a contradiction.Since the Tokaido Shinkansen first began carrying passengers between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964, Japan's famous high-speed railway has all but eliminated the need to spend a full night aboard a train. Journeys that once required evening departures and morning arrivals can now be completed in little more than two hours. And, for generations, the Shinkansen has represented one simple idea: the fastest journey is the best one.Yet this summer...

Marking Time: How Japan’s Era Names Still Shape the Present

While much of the world measures time using the Gregorian calendar alone, Japan continues to track the years in a different way. On official documents like driver’s licenses bank

Inside Kobe’s Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Museum

There are certain moments in Japan’s recent history that are still clearly remembered, even decades later. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (often simply referred...

5 Tokyo omiyage to bring back from your trip or recommend to visitors

These sweet gifts from Tokyo are surefire hits at the coffee table. Here’s what they signify – and what they taste likeIf you’ve ever passed through Tokyo Station or one of the city’s airports, you’ve probably seen them: rows of colourful, neatly packaged sweets.
Although often translated as ‘souvenir’, omiyage has a somewhat different meaning in Japanese. Rather than something you buy for yourself, it’s a gift you bring back for others. And in many cases – especially professional settings – it...

TOTO: The Story Behind Japan’s High-Tech Toilets

It’s a small detail, but one that many visitors notice almost immediately when they first use a toilet in Japan. A seat that is already warm, a built-in bidet with adjustable settings, a lid that opens automatically, buttons that play sound for privacy, and even self-cleaning modes — features that might seem unusual elsewhere are simply part of everyday life here.

Tokyo’s Yurikamome Line: A Scenic Ride to Odaiba

In Tokyo, few train rides are as memorable as the Yurikamome. Departing from Shimbashi Station, this driverless line rises above the city, makes its way toward Tokyo Bay, and then crosses the iconic Rainbow Bridge. For a brief stretch, the journey feels less like a commute and more like an experience—one that connects central Tokyo...

The Train You’re Not Supposed to See: Japan’s Elusive Doctor Yellow

Not every train in Japan is meant to be seen. But one, against all odds, has become impossible to ignore. It does not appear on departure boards. It carries no passengers. And yet, when it slips past a platform—a flash of bright yellow—people stop, point, and reach for their phones. For a brief moment, the invisible machinery of Japan’s railway system becomes visi...

The Railway Museum outside Tokyo

Tokyo’s rail network is so efficient that it can feel invisible—trains arrive, depart, and disappear with clockwork precision. But behind that seamless movement lies a story of ambition, engineering, and national transformation. From steam locomotives puffing across newly laid tracks in the 19th century to bu...

Shikanoshima: The Island Where Japan Met the World

Shikanoshima may be small, but its history reaches back to the very beginnings of Japan’s recorded past. Located at the mouth of Hakata Bay in Fukuoka Prefecture, the island is known for the discovery of a gold seal, believed to have been given by a Chinese emperor to a local ruler — one of the earliest physical pieces of evidence of Japan’s existence in written history. It was here, too, that the Mongol Empire launched two invasion attempts in the late 13th century, both of which ultimately fai...

A Torii Without a Shrine: The Forgotten History of Haneda Airport

Haneda is by far Japan’s busiest airport, handling well over 200,000 passengers each day. For many travelers, it is also their first encounter with Tokyo.

Yet very few of those people realize that just outside Haneda’s perimeter stands a lone torii (a traditional gate to a Shinto shrine) facing the runways. Unlike most torii in Japan, this one does not lead to a shrine, but marks the former site of Anamori Inari, a coastal shrine once central to the villages that occupied this land long befor...

Inside Japan’s Vending Machine Culture

A vending machine dreamVending machines are literally everywhere in Japan. At first glance, they may seem ordinary, just another part of the urban landscape. Yet their sheer number is remarkable.Estimates vary, but Japan is believed to have roughly 4 to 5 million vending machines nationwide, or about one for every 25 to 30 people—among the highest per-capita concentrations in the world. Most sell drinks, from canned coffee to bottled tea. But even a “standard” machine can surprise overseas visit...

Why Omiya Deserves a Spot on Your Itinerary

Less than an hour from central Tokyo, Omiya in Saitama Prefecture is one of the region’s most important transportation hubs. Fifteen rail lines converge here—including six Shinkansen routes—making the city a gateway to northern and eastern Japan. That and the fact it has one of the country’s largest railway museums has turned Omiya into something of a pilgrimage site for train enthusiasts.

Despite this, Saitama has long carried the nickname “Dasaitama,” a mash-up of dasai (“uncool” or “lame”)...

Tracing the Oshu Kaido — The Historic Road Connecting Edo and Northern Japan

As one of Japan’s historic Five Roads, the Oshu Kaido formed the Tokugawa shogunate’s primary overland link between Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and northern...

Step Aboard the Soya: Tokyo’s Antarctic Icebreaker

Permanently moored in Odaiba (near the site of the now closed, ship-shaped Museum of Maritime Science) the retired icebreaker Soya has lived several lives. Built before WWII, repurposed during it, and later sent to Antarctica, the ship’s long career mirrors some of the most dramatic changes in Japanese history. Now preserved as a museum ship, Soya offers visitors an easy but rewarding stop, where decades of history unfold within a short, walkable visit along Tokyo Bay.

The Soya was first laid...

SETOUCHI REFLECTION TRIP

A Nostalgic Japanese Landscape - A Relaxing Inn in the Mountains to Revitalize Your Body and Mind

In the quieter parts of Japan, life moves at a different pace. From thoughtfully renovated farmhouses and traditional ryokan to coastal villages and stunning natural landscapes, these accommodations offer a nostalgic retreat for guests who want to unwind and relax. What’s more, they provide a meaningful way to reconnect with the land and its traditions—by experiencing time-honored building techniques, local cuisine, and living history firsthand.

SETOUCHI REFLECTION TRIP

Five Cycling Routes in Setouchi

Sandwiched between Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, the Setouchi region is a calm, island-dotted corner of western Japan best known for its Mediterranean-like climate and sparkling inland sea. It’s also one of Japan’s premier cycling destinations, with a network of routes — most notably the iconic Shimanami Kaido, which links Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture with Imabari in Ehime Prefecture — that appeal to both casual and more professional cyclists.

Architectural Legacy of Kenzo Tange

Few architects have likely shaped post-war Japan as profoundly as Kenzo Tange. Renowned for his blending of traditional Japanese style with modernism, Tange was...

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