In early August, Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region of Japan hosts the Nebuta & Neputa Festivals, where giant illuminated floats featuring famous warriors and and kabuki actors are paraded through the streets. Accompanied but the thundering sound of beating drums, the music of bamboo flutes and shouts of “rasseera” by Haneto dancers this is […]

The various regions of Japan each have their own food specialties.  The Regional Foods in Japan series by Etsuko of Tokyofoodcast started last week with a look at the regional foods of Hokkaido and will continue on Fridays throughout the month of January at The Nihon Sun. Today we’ll cover Tohoku & Kanto… Tohoku Wanko-soba […]

The Tohokuo region of Japan includes six prefectures – in Japan: A Closer Look at Tohoku – Part 1 you learned about some of the sights and activities that can be enjoyed by visitors to Akita, Aomori and Fukushima prefectures and in part 2 we will cover Iwate, Miyagi and Yamagata prefectures.  The Tohoku region […]

Tohoku is Japanese for “northeast” and the region occupies the northern area of honshu, Japan’s main island.  Hokkaido is Tohoku’s neighbor to the north, while Chubu lies to the southeast and Kanto to the southwest.  Six prefectures (provinces or states) make up the the Tohoku region: Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.  Part 1 […]