The Golden Gai comprises six alleys in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho red-light district that are lined with over 200 tightly packed independent bars and is an ideal location to experience authentic Tokyo nightlife.
Just a short walk from Shinjuku Station, Golden Gai offers the chance to meet and share a drink with friendly locals, as well as to experience some of Tokyo’s forgotten architectural heritage.
Nippori Station, called Nippori-eki in Japanese, is located in Arakawa, a Tokyo’s special ward. The station, like Tokyo itself, enjoys a long and abundant history. “Nippori” means “place where the sun sets”, and this quiet area hearkens back to the charms of yesteryear.
Nippori Station was inaugurated in 1905. Today, it serves over one hundred thousand passengers each day. Will your travels take you through Nippori Station? Employ this handy travel guide to learn about the station’s train lines and nearby attractions.
Another fantastic location at which to view the sakura blossom, this elegant wooden castle is one of the best-preserved from Japan’s Edo Period.
Surrounded by stone fortifications and moats, the central structure, Ninomaru Palace, was also historically well-protected from intruders by secret features such as booby-trapped floors. Can be reached in under 20 minutes from central Kyoto.
Tsukimi, also called Otsukimi or Jugoya, literally means “moon viewing” or “looking at the moon”. Like the hanami of spring and koyo of autumn, this Japanese festival honors a wonder of nature – the autumn moon.
What are the origins of this festival, and how is it celebrated today? This travel guide will provide all the details you should know if traveling to Japan during the Harvest Moon Festival.
Kyoto is one of the most well-known cities in Japan. It is the capital city of the Kyoto Prefecture of Japan’s Kansai region. For more than one thousand years, Kyoto was the Imperial capital of Japan.
At the city’s heart lies Gion, a center of the traditional arts and famed entertainment district. If you’re searching for a taste of traditional Japan, Gion’s flagstone streets lined with wooden buildings is a good place to start.
Halloween continues to grow in popularity in Japan. It burst onto the scene in 2000 when Tokyo Disneyland hosted its first Halloween event. It was a triumph and other theme parks followed suit. Now Halloween is one of the biggest events on the calendar, held, of course, October 31.
However, Halloween in Japan isn’t just an imitation of the American version. First of all, there’s no ‘trick or treating’. Secondly, as it’s a new phenomenon, people don’t care about most of the Halloween traditions which are important elsewhere.
