Category
Travel
ActivitiesTravel
Not every trip to Japan is built around a single activity, and this section covers the rest: cultural travel, eco-tourism, adventure travel, onsen and hot spring culture, and the practical planning that ties a trip together. Start with our Best Time to Visit Japan guide if you’re still deciding when to go, or our guide to Takaragawa Onsen in Gunma if a great hot spring is part of the plan. This is also the broadest section on the site, so use the subcategories below to narrow in on a specific region, culture, or travel style.
Sea Kayaking
Freedom in Exile
There is an upside to a recession, I thought to myself. My head down, arms paddling too hard against wind and waves to worry abou...
Eco Corner
Eco Corner: Choices for Sustainable Lifestyles
Eco WineOrganic in Akasaka One of the finest wine shops in Tokyo, Mavie Akasaka has been importing small batch org...
Faces in the Crowd
Daichi: A Small Shop Built on Big Ideas
Nakatsu is a small city of 85,000 in Kyushu’s Oita Prefecture about halfway between the famous hot springs of Beppu to the ea...
Onsen
Episode 2: High Times in Manza
The Naked Stranger is an aficionado for all things Japanese. People in his country even consider him an expert on the subject. He...
Features
Jungle Boogie
"Sting and his friends sing with Brazilian stars at a pay-per-view rainforest benefit concert?" This was my remark when asked ...
Malaysia
Sarawak Surprise
The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) had been on my bucket list for years. A decade of pilgrimages to Sado Island’s Earth C...
Photography
Haikyo: Once Upon a Mine
The calendar on the wall of the hospital reception room reads 1974, and there are magazines on the shelves from 1971. Across the ...
Snowboarding
White Gold: Shaun White Interview
Holding someone’s Olympic gold medal for the first time can be like holding their baby; it’s shiny and beautiful, but it’s a bit unsettling, and you don’t want to drop it, so you smile and hand it back after a few moments.