My favorite place in Japan

This month we had some great participants from the JapanSoc Flickr Group that have been interspersed with links to articles on a number of great Japan blogs.  Enjoy!

Let’s start with an image of Tenshochi – Kitakami, Iwate, Japan by LostInInaka

CJW presents My Patagonia posted at i, cjw ~.::.~ hiking and climbing in japan.

Mike presents Yakushima – Japan Travel Photos posted at Gakuranman. (top right)

Harvey also presents A trip to Yakushima posted at Japannewbie.com.

Kanmuri presents Ueno Station: Hours of Pleasure. posted at Turning Iwatean.

Tokyofoodcast presents My Harbor: Kaminokae, Kochi posted at Tokyofoodcast, saying, “First time to join matsuri. Yoroshiku!”

C.K. Tse shares an image of Gassho-style (literally “praying hands”) thatched-roof houses in Shirakawa

Tony Alexander presents How I Would Entertain Guest in Japan posted at The Soul of Japan.

Honor presents Japanese Countryside -  My Favorite Place In Japan posted at TokyoTopia.

Supreme Nothing presents My Favorite Place in Japan, or Why Does Fuji-san Keep Talking To Me? posted at supreme nothing.

Shibuya246 presents Golf at Mt Fuji posted at Shibuya246.

Thomas Hammerlund presents Rhinos at Yagiyama Zoo in Sendai posted at sixmats.com.

Brett Fyfield presents Knowledge Bubbles up from Within posted at Rainbowhill Language Lab. (fountain image on right – see Rainbowhill’s Photo on Flickr)

Andrew Cowan presents The best place in Japan posted at ALT Susono, saying, “My favorite place in Japan is a local izakaya.”

Billy presents My Favorite Place in Japan posted at Tune In Tokyo – how appropriate that his favorite place is anyplace where he can Karaoke with his friends.

Muza-chan presents My favorite place in Japan, Meiji Jingu posted at Muza-chan’s Gate to Japan.

I agree with Muza-chan, the Meiji Jingu Iris Garden is in the precincts of the shrine and is an oasis of calm in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo.

Dave presents My favourite place in Japan, actually the whole Kansai region, posted at The Ramen Blues.

Janne presents Namba posted at Janne In Osaka. (Bar in Namba at Night pictured on the right – see Janne’s Flickr Photos)

Paul Walsh presents Our favorite place in Japan Hiroshima posted at Get Hiroshima Blog with photo courtesy of Rebecca Schmidt below.

iMorpheus presents My Favorite Place: Rotating Beneath my Feet, referring to the great trains of Japan and posted at Epimetheus. (Tickets Please by pictured on the right – see iMorpheus’s Flickr Photos)

Aimee Weinstein presents My Favorite Place in Japan, the Daibutsu Buddha in Kamakura,  posted at The Weekly Weinstein: Tales of Tokyo Life.

Cindy presents My favorite place in Japan, Mount Koya, or Koya-san,  posted at just a little ちょっと.

Our Man in Abiko presents 10 favourite places – in Abiko posted at our man in abiko.

Deas presents Fushimi Inari Taisha posted at Rocking in Hakata.

KenY-N presents The theatre – my favourite place in Japan posted at What Japan Thinks.

Sarah presents My Favourite Place, Nikko Toshogu, posted at A Canadian in Meiji Japan.

A image of a  Temple gate in Nikko is preseted by indy138.

This image of Tsurunoyu Onsen in Akita is presented by lazysupper.

Last but certainly not least we have an image of Mt. Iwate titled “One Cherry Tree” present by jasohill.

That concludes the May 2009 edition of the Japan Blog Matsuri.   Thanks to all who participated their words and images – it was pleasure to host and I encourage you all to submit entired to the June edition, hosted by Billy of Tune-in-Tokyo.

So, what’s your favorite place in Japan?  One included here or someplace different?  Do tell us all about it in the comments…

The goal for this month’s matsuri is to create a list of inspiring articles and images from Japan similar to the collaboration that resulted in the  Looking Out The Window In Japan article late last year.

Whether you live in Japan or have visited be sure to join us as we explore Japan.  What’s your favorite place in Japan?  Where would you take your best friend, your mother, your brother or a colleague it time and money were limitless?  What if time and money were very limited?

Would you go out to eat?  Take a stroll through a garden, visit a temple, shrine or just explore the neighborhood?  Would you head for the mountains or visit one of Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage sites?

Write an article and submit a photo (optional) so we can inspire others to get out and see what Japan has to offer whether they do it in person or virtually.

The deadline for Japan Blog Matsuri entries is Friday, May 22nd and you can expect to see the resulting round up during the week of May 26th.

Submit your entries via the Blog Carnival website and if you would like your photo to be included in the Japan Blog Matsuri article please add it to the JapanSoc Flickr Group tagged “Japan Blog Matsuri May 2009″.  Email the link to your photo on Flickr or send a web optimized version via email to The Nihon Sun with “Japan Blog Matsuri Image” in the subject line.

We can’t wait to share some of your favorite place in Japan on The Nihon Sun!

“If the truth be told, living in Japan is not that different from living anywhere else.  We have to get around, shop, eat and entertain ourselves.  We love and miss our families, we worry about things.  Will I fit in?  Will anyone understand me?  Will I make friends?  What will people think of me?  How will I get around? Where is the grocery store, the pharmacy, the gym, etc? These questions would come up if you moved from Seattle to New York, Vancouver to Toronto or Honolulu to Japan.

The challenges that arise when moving to Japan are due to the fact that we have been taken out of our robot-like comfort zone.”

Need vs. Want

When you live in a foreign country, what you need versus what you want comes into sharper focus.  In the modern world that we live in it is very easy to mistake a want for a need and also very easy to take for granted all that you have and all that you are able to do.  Living in a foreign country is a great opportunity to take a look at your values in a different context and determine if they are in fact your values or values that you simply inherited and never really took the time to examine.

When I moved to Japan I was forced to take a close look at what I needed in order to live a comfortable existence and I was a bit surprised to find that I don’t need as much as I have.

Home is Where You Make It

Living in Japan has confirmed my belief that home is where you make it (and who you make it with) and it has reminded me of an inner strength that I have to make the best out of most situations.

I could have moved to Japan and bemoaned all that I was giving up but I chose to look at it as an opportunity to learn more about myself and more about a culture that is often written about but difficult for many to understand.   I have barely scratched the surface in my understanding of this ancient culture and it’s people but the more I learn the more I am intrigued and the more I want to learn.

Patience, Frustration & Independence

They say that patience is a virtue and I always joke that it’s not one of my stronger ones but it is getting stronger everyday thanks to the time I have spent in Japan.  I am more flexible too and am reminded that often that there is no one right way to do things – just because things are done one way in my home country doesn’t automatically make it the right way everywhere else.

It can be frustrating to live in a place where you don’t speak the language and my Japanese ability is minimal at best.  That can make it difficult to accomplish anything more that a basic task in Japan and while I am able to ask simple questions there is no guarantee that I will understand the answer.  I am forced to be more resourceful and independent and sometimes I simply have to make do and do the best that I can in a given situation.

I have learned to be more patient with myself and others and I now appreciate how much we rely on others simply to move through our lives.

Appreciation of Tradition and History

One of the thing that I love about Japan is their reverence for their history and religion and how it seems to be seamlessly integrated into their daily lives.  Stop into a church on a Tuesday afternoon in North America and it will likely be empty but stop by a local temple or shrine in Japan and you will often find someone pausing for a moment of prayer.   It’s a bit ironic that in Tokyo, a city well know for it’s crowds and fast paced lifestyle, that people still find time to feed their souls.

Living in Japan has taught me that I don’t need to rush through my life checking off the next thing on my to-do list and that it is good to pause and reflect on  every now and again.

Appreciation of Seasonal Changes

Seedlings are planted and crops are harvested, but in these days of world wide air shipments and modern technology it is easy to take the food on our plates for granted.

The Japanese treat good food with reverence and there is great excitement in Japan around seasonal foods.  In the spring you will likely stop by a teahouse for some matcha (green tea) and seasonal wagashi, in the summer you can’t miss the abundance of unagi (eel) in restaurants, in the fall and winter you will be warmed by Oden.  Food in Japan is celebrated and appreciated with simple preparation and small portions that are meant to be savored.  Food is a source of great pleasure in Japan and is treated as much more that a source of nourishment.

Living in Japan has given me a new appreciation of the food that I put on my plate and into my body.

Better or Different

Am I a different person that before I lived in Japan?

I am basically the same person but the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone has brought many of my beliefs and values into sharper focus.

Has living in Japan made be a better person?

I can’t say that I am a better person but I think that the experience of living in Japan has given me a better perspective on my life. I hope that the ability to lead a more conscious life stays with me well beyond the time I spend in Japan.

This article was entered into the Japan Blog Matsuri which is being hosted by DBR at Narrative Disorder this month.