Japan Photo Guide

Still considering going to Japan for the 2012 cherry blossom season?  There are still a few places available for Japan Photo Guide’s 2012 Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan!  The deadline, February 11th, 2012, is coming up quickly and there are special discounts by booking your guided tour of Japan before the end of January!  Need more information?  Here is some info and links to help you make your decision about going to Japan this spring!

Even though I am about as far away from Japan as possible, I am super excited about the 2009 cherry blossom season! Partly because it looks like I will be able to make it to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms blooming in 2009! Yay! In any case, to get everyone excited, here is a short video slideshow with some of my favorite cherry blossom photos from my stay in Japan. Make sure you turn up the volume, but put on some headphones if you are at work! Enjoy!

There are two wonderful and exciting things about February in Japan. First is the Sapporo Snow Festival, and the second is the cherry blossom forecast! The forecast has not been released yet, but usually the first one is released in the middle of, or late February. Check back again as I will post information as soon as I find it is available. Until then, check out some cherry blossom photos from years past!

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Edited on February 25th.
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Here is the latest forecast from Tenki.jp! Looks like things will be a little early this year with Tokyo and Kyoto around March 25th.

Since I was across the street at Chidorigafuchi, I decided I might as well stop by the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Why is it controversial? In a nutshell, this is a shrine dedicated to all those who died protecting Japan during times of war and according to the Official Yasukini Shrine Homepage:

Currently, more than 2,466,000 divinities are enshrined here at Yasukuni Shrine. These are souls of men who made ultimate sacrifice for their nation since 1853 during national crises such as the Boshin War, the Seinan War, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, World War I, the Manchurian Incident, the China Incident and the Greater East Asian War (World War II). These people, regardless of their rank or social standing, are considered to be completely equal and worshiped as venerable divinities of Yasukuni.

So again, why all this controversy? See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum is within walking distance of Kawaguchiko of Fuji Five Lakes (fujigoko) and is really a can’t miss place if you are in the area. Itchiku Kubota devoted almost his entire life to developing his own style of making beautiful kimonos and his hard work and devotion can be seen in his works of art. Besides the beautiful kimonos, some of which have designs that carry over between 4 or 5 different kimonos, the museum itself and landscape on the museum grounds are really a site to see.

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »