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Japan is truly blessed: a travellers’ haven of the first rank, with its natural beauty, its onsen, its natives’ legendary courtesy and reserve, great public transportation, and wonderful food.
But there is always the natural urge to visit other places: the glory that is Paris, the natural beauty of Hawaii, the magnificent American west coast, the lazy Floridian days of Disney and golf.
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in Tokyo can be found at Maru-ya Niku-ten in historical Bunkyo-ku. |
Any all types of croquettes are available at Maruya Nikuten. [Restaurant]
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at a 4th of July celebration for the Kitty Hawk. (Source: United States Navy’s Naval Media Center, Mr. Thomas Holt) |
Hanabi over Otaru when the Kitty Hawk is in port.[Reprint]
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The most commonplace observance that one can make about Mt. Fuji is that there is a hoary Japanese proverb that a wise man climbs Fuji exactly once. Only a small percentage of Japanese ever make the ascent, but those that do all go in July and August when all of the amenities are open, and the weather on the mighty peak is at its most accommodating. [Photo feature]
The craftsmanship of all Japanese dolls is masterly, but the Hina dolls are the masterpieces of the masters in our opinion.
Every March 3rd, mothers and daughters display gorgeous collections of Hina dolls for Girls Day. See our photographs of some of our favorites. [Photo Feature]
More than 500 years of tradition puts Honke Owariyin the very elite category as one of the world’s very few restaurants to make its quincentennial mark. And their soba ensures that Honke Owariya is likely to see another 500 years of great food. [Restaurant review]
This festival (matsuri) is held in three places every year on July 7th. Kanagawa’s Hiratsuka festival is only an hour’s ride from Tokyo. If you had to choose a July festival to visit while vacationing in the Tokyo vicinity, this would be a fine one. [Photo Feature] [Skip to Page 2] [Skip to Page 3] [Skip to Page 4] [Skip to Page 5]
The perennial favorite Enoshima has been renewed and is now one of our favorites.
We rate Enoshima’s renewal as a rousing success. From a good location to spend a lazy summer’s day, it now boasts quite a neat system of escalators to take you up to the crowning glory of its new tower. [Photo Feature]
For a visitor to Kobe, one of the special places to stay is the Hotel Okura Kobe. With a magnificent view of the harbor and the ability to effortlessly handle gaikokujin, it is an attractive hotel for even the first-time tourist to Japan. [Review]
If you are going to visit Japan, we recommend the Lonely Planet guidebooks:
Recent hit movies about Japan, now and then
