Travel Tips

Kyoto is a popular tourist destination both domestically and internationally. Situated in a basin surrounded by mountains, summers are hot and humid, and on many days the temperature exceeds 30°C.
However, Kyoto also has cool summer destinations, including mountains, the seaside, and rivers. In addition to beautiful natural scenery, there are plentiful experiences and activities to get a feel for the city’s summer atmosphere.
Here are 10 cool spots in Kyoto where you can beat the heat, from famous sites like Shimogamo Shrine, Tadasu-no-Mori, Kibune, and Arashiyama Bamboo Forest to less frequented areas away from the city.
1. Shimogamo Shrine / Tadasu no Mori: A healing forest in the city
Shimogamo Shrine, a world heritage site, is one of Kyoto’s main shrines, about 30 minutes north of JR Kyoto Station by bus. The shrine’s vast Tadasu-no-Mori forest is a perfect place to cool off in the center of Kyoto, with many worshipers visiting in the evening.
The forest has been growing since th..

Chiharu Shiota once said: “The mind and body became detached from each other, and I am no longer able to put a stop to these uncontrollable emotions. I lay my own body out in scattered pieces and have a conversation with it in my mind. Somehow, I understand that this is what the act of connecting my body to these red threads is about. The act of expressing these emotions and giving them a form always also involves the soul being destroyed.” These are the words that came into my mind as I met the puppet makers of Awaji. “When I made my first puppet mask, I was so excited I was practically shaking. These days I perform and know deeply the connection between art and craft.”
Unlike other forms of Japanese theatre, a puppet does not speak, and so the months spent carving the facial features, the movements of the eyes, ear lashes and mouth are key to telling the story. There is no greater appreciation in the puppeteer for bringing a piece of wood to life than in the person who created the p..

Maguro-don, or tuna rice bowls, are a fun way to try sushi in a completely different way. Rather than having a bit of sushi on rice, you can get a generous heap of fresh sliced fish over steaming white rice. And one of the best places for this just might be in Japan's north – in Aomori Prefecture.
With access to four seas, namely the Sea of Japan, the Pacific Ocean, the Tsugaru Straits, and the Rikuoku Gulf, Aomori Prefecture produces an abundance of seafood, including scallops, squid, and flounder, and the “black diamond” of tuna, the luxurious Pacific bluefin tuna.
For the people who want to eat Aomori’s maguro, or bluefin tuna, but are unable to spare the long traveling time needed to reach the ports or are unable to make it when it’s in season, we’re here to introduce to you the mega maguro-don tuna bowls at one of Aomori City's most popular shops: Tsurukameya Shokudo.
Aomori City’s world-famous tuna
Freshly caught bluefin tuna
Tuna can be caught all over the world, but ..

I’d been working in Niseko for two months when my friend and housemate Ed bought a car. Niseko is a ski town with a huge second-hand market for almost anything, particularly in winter. So when a local farmer approached Ed with an offer for his almost prehistoric Toyota for only ¥50,000 (about $500), we jumped at the chance. The caveat was that the car was tiny, cramped, could only play CDs and didn’t have the best heating.

While a road trip is a classic method of exploring places like Hokkaido, you can undertake the same journey I did by using the JR line from Sapporo, the Furano line from Asahikawa or the highway buses that run out from both these cities.

Setting off
Photo: Fergus GreggThe roads were winding and slippery, yet our scenic route proved well worth it.
A few hours after our 6 a.m. departure, we’d made it past the big smoke of Sapporo and were driving through open farmland. We climbed up from the plains and into the mountains as Sir Eric Clapton, the featured artist on th..

It turns out there are ways to spruce up Japan’s simplest dish!
Tamagokake gohan is just about the easiest Japanese dish you could ever make. Simply crack an egg over a bowl of piping hot rice, give it a moment to let the heat rising of the grains flash cook it, and voila, it’s done (in Japan, eggs are generally considered safe to eat raw). You can accent it with your desired seasoning or sauce, but it’s pretty darn delicious as it is, and it’s the ultimate cheap, fast meal.
Unless you make it bougie, of course, like what they do at Tamago no Ohanashi, a tamagokake gohan (hereinafter referred to as TKG) specialty restaurant. You may be wondering, how can you possibly level up an egg cracked over rice? They manage it, and the result is simply art.
The restaurant is located on the first basement floor of a building about a five-minute walk from JR Kichijoji Station in Tokyo. It opened in January this year as a newly renovated restaurant and has been open for business daily since April.
Y..

The easiest way to make French toast? Simply spread it on bread!
After tasting the wonders of spreadable curry bread and spreadable Melon Bread, there’s now a new spread in town out to steal our hearts, and this time it’s filled with the flavours of French Toast.
Created by Osaka-based Marin Food, whose tagline is “Jump the Frontier”, the new spread is called “Watashi no French Toast” (“My French Toast“), and our reporter K. Masami came across a tub at import food chainstore Kaldi for 298 yen (US$2.19).
Masami loves French toast, but can never be bothered to go to the trouble of preparing the eggs, milk, and butter to make it, plus the thought of having to deal with a pile of washing up afterwards just never made it worth her time.
So spreadable French toast sounded like a dream come true for Masami, and judging by the ingredients, it looked legit, as it contained the essential ingredients of eggs, vegetable oil, milk, salt and sugar.
The steps to making French Toast looked super easy ..

Kifune Shrine sits at the foot of Mount Kurama in Sakyo Ward, about a 40-minute drive from Kyoto’s center.
It is resplendent in each of the four seasons, be it the new green of spring, the colorful leaves of autumn or mantled in snow in winter. One look at this picture-perfect shrine set in nature and you will understand why it draws so many visitors throughout the year.
Kifune Shrine is Kyoto's Incredible Power Spot
Kasuga lanterns line the stone stairway leading up to the shrine. This otherworldly view representative of the shrine is often shown on TV and in magazines.
After ascending the approach to the shrine and once inside the precincts one must first purify oneself with water. On this day (January 13, 2017) the temperature was right around freezing—biting cold! This pure water cleanses one’s heart.
The exact date when Kifune Shrine was established is not known, but it is indeed very old with records showing that reconstructions have been carried out from 1,300 years ago.
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The capital of Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai City is located in northeastern Japan's region of Tohoku. With easy access to and from Tokyo and other major cities, it's also a convenient travel base for a trip around Tohoku.
With the great fishing grounds of the Sanriku Coast and the spacious Sendai plains, suited for rice cultivation, it has gained a reputation as a treasure trove of food ingredients. Perhaps because of these traits, people from Miyagi Prefecture tend to be rather particular about their food!
Here, we visit a favorite local supermarket and introduce ten food items from their rich lineup that fully embody the characteristics of Sendai. While some make the perfect souvenir, others you'll want to enjoy in your hotel.
Ujie Supermarket: Sendai's Best Fresh Foods and Dishes
Photo courtesy of: Ujie Supermarket
Today we visit the Rifu branch of Ujie Supermarket, of which there are 32 total branches in Miyagi Prefecture, with four in Sendai alone. Rifu is a neig..

Belonging to the Rinzai sect of Buddhism, Zuisenji Temple was established in 1327 by the Ashikaga family, the clan that ruled as shoguns during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573), the era that followed the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).
Temple of Flowers in the Valley of the Autumn Leaves
Zuisenji with its grounds is listed as a Place of Outstanding Scenic Beauty. It is known as the Temple of Flowers and is located in Momijigayatsu, or Valley of the Autumn Leaves, a hilly area in the northeastern reaches of the city.
Much of what we see today at Zuisenji in terms of garden design (though largely modified over the centuries) springs from the genius and creativity of one man, Muso Soseki, also known as Muso Kokushi, meaning National Zen Teacher, an honorific title conferred on him by the Emperor Go-Daigo.
Muso Soseki was the grandson of Hojo Masamura, the seventh shiken (regent) of the Kamakura Period, thus bridging the gap between two shogunates while at the same time keeping good relat..