Winter has arrived in Japan –in some places much harsher than in Tokyo– and temperatures have been dropping to the low single digits in recent days. It is this time of the year that I am reminded again just how insufficient the insulation in your […]

Strolling Around Mitakesan
It’s been a while since visiting the mountains in and around Tokyo prefecture and autumn is one of the best times to do so. That’s why last weekend we headed out to Mt. Mitake about two hours away from downtown. A bit less touristy than […]

Welcome to the Japanese Countryside
Japan with its rich history and unique cultural heritage is an amazing place to visit as a tourist. Having been brought up in the West, there is a plethora of things to discover virtually all over the country that seem new and exciting. Personally, as […]

Sundays in Ginza
Long overdue update after a few months of silence: I spent the Corona break mostly indoors, finishing my master’s thesis, changing apartments, and also changing jobs. Now, just in time for Japan’s annual typhoon season, I have two weeks of mostly free time on my […]

Japan’s Tropical Islands
This weekend we were straying away from Tokyo quite a bit. In fact, this was by far the furthest away from home I’ve been while still on Japanese soil to date. Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, is located between Japan an Taiwan. Flying to the main […]

Shibuya Sunset
Like many countries around the world, Japan is currently trying to strike the right balance between reopening and preventing a second wave of Covid-19 infections. For many businesses and public facilities in Tokyo, June 1st was the day strict preventive measures got lifted for the […]

Hanami in times of Corona
It’s the evening of April 7 and Japan’s prime minister has just announced a one-month state of emergency for several of the country’s prefectures, including Tokyo. However, there’s a chance that this move will bring about little change in everyday life, as there’s no legal […]

Hitachi Seaside Park
Fist off, all the best to everyone reading this back home in Europe or anywhere else around the world for that matter. I sincerely hope you, your family and friends are all well and things will be back to normal soon. Even though Japan does […]

It’s always rainy in Kanazawa
… but that doesn’t make it any less pretty! The quaint port town on the Japanese Sea definitely has a lot of things to offer for a long weekend, regardless of the weather conditions. Most notably, Kanazawa is famous for its flawlessly preserved neighborhoods from […]