I’m off to Kamakura in Kanagawa prefecture today – it’s just one of a few great day trips that can be made using Tokyo as a base.  Many of these places can be explored in a day but if you have time you may want to consider staying the night at a hotel or ryokan […]

Yokohama is home to one of the world’s largest Chinatowns with over 500 restaurants and numerous shops selling furniture, spices, ceramics, clothing, trinkets and pretty much anything else you can imagine. You can’t miss the entrance to Yokohama’s Chinatown, there are 10 colorful gates to choose from that are built based on the Chinese horoscope […]

David Shackelford shares a beautiful shot of Yokohama at night with us today.  He’s a San Francisco native, currently studying in Tokyo at Waseda University, who spent his first Christmas in Japan on a platonic date in the trendy Minato Mirai area of Yokohama. In his own words: “This picture of Yokohama’s waterfront was taken […]

A Visit Japan campaign was launched by the Japanese government with the establishment of the Japan Tourism Agency in October of this year.  The Visit Japan campaign is aiming to increase the number of annual visitors to from the 6 million that came in 2007 to 10 million by 2010 .  So where do most […]