Journal
- Kyoto’s Quiet Autumn Gardens And Leaf-Filled Walking PathsKyoto in autumn is often pictured as a city of brilliant maple trees, crowded temple gates, and camera-ready reflections. The famous sights deserve their…
- A guide to Japan’s castle towns: Himeji, Matsumoto and KumamotoJapan’s castle towns offer more than impressive stone walls and dramatic keeps. They reveal how samurai administration shaped street layouts, temples, merchant…
- Japanese business cards: meishi etiquette for Australian visitorsA business card in Japan is more than a small piece of paper with contact details. Known as meishi, it represents a person, their organisation and the…
- The most scenic train rides in Japan from Kurobe to SaganoJapan’s railway network turns the journey itself into part of the holiday. Beyond the efficient shinkansen, slower local lines wind through cedar forests, deep…
- How to Use a Japanese Kitchen: Tools and Ingredients ExplainedA Japanese kitchen may look compact, highly organised and a little unfamiliar at first. Instead of relying on a large oven, it often centres on a gas or…
- Beginner's guide to Japanese whisky distilleries and tasting notesJapanese whisky has shifted from a niche curiosity to a sought-after spirit on Australian shelves, with bottles once hidden in Tokyo specialty shops now…
- Quiet Cherry Blossom Spots in Tokyo for a More Local SpringTokyo’s cherry blossom season is beautiful, but the most famous viewing areas can feel less like a peaceful spring outing and more like a slow-moving crowd.…
- The Complete Guide to Japanese Vending Machines: Unusual Finds and TipsJapanese vending machines are far more than convenient places to buy a cold drink. They are woven into daily life, appearing beside train stations, rural…
- Seto Inland Sea art islands: a guide to Naoshima and TeshimaFloating between Honshu and Shikoku, the islands of the Seto Inland Sea have quietly become one of Japan's most fascinating cultural destinations. While most…
- How to Attend a Japanese Matsuri: Etiquette and HighlightsAustralia sits on the other side of the calendar from Japan, so the deep-summer matsuri season of July and August lines up with winter back home. Plenty of…