More glimpses of unfamiliar Japan

Yanai Shirakabe no Machi Yanai , a small town and port in Yamaguchi is most well known for its Kingyo Choochin Matsuri featuring goldfish ...

Probably the first thing you notice at Tanzan Shrine is the rather unusual 13-story pagoda. Pagodas are of course Buddhist, and this was a t...

Upon arriving at Tondo matsuri the first thing to do is get a drink of Kappo Zake, sake poured into a piece of bamboo that is then heated ...

Yesterday was Tondo Matsuri over in Tanijyugo. A fire festival traditionally held on the first new moon of the year. On the bonfire are plac...

All of these statues of the 7 lucky gods of Japan are at Taizo-Ji, a temple at the southern end of the Kunisaki peninsular. This first one...

We wanted to visit Okazaki Shrine, but even on the afternoon of the 2nd the line waiting to get in was several hundred meters long. The reas...

Though technically Hatsumode refers to the first shrine visit of the year, and of course there can only be one first, many people, myself in...

Hatsumode is the Japanese custom of the first visit of the new year to a shrine or temple. We were up in Kyoto visiting Yoko's family, a...