Japan Photo Guide

By now, you have all seen how horrible things that are going on in Northern Japan and if you are American, you probably have filled out your bracket (or at least started to). Now it’s time to make it count. To help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Tohoku, Japan, I’ve created a March Madness for Japan group to help raise money for Japan. 85% of the money raised will go to an organization involved with helping out and 15% will go towards the top 5 finishers. The more the merrier, so head over to http://savemiyagi.eventbrite.com/ and have fun while helping Japan! Thank you in advance!

Having lived for three years in Sendai, Miyagi Ken, in Tohoku Japan, this horrible natural disaster hits home with me. Just wanted to write a quick post to share some links that might be of help to some people, in or out of Japan. First some quick stuff for US Citizens that are in Japan.

JapanEmergencyusc@state.gov
12025014444
@travelgov

Other than that, a couple of people have already made some great posts with resources and links. Instead of me copying them, just go check out their sites:

http://gakuranman.com/great-tohoku-earthquake/
http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2011/03/earthquake-in-japan-links-resources.html

My favorite season is coming back! Even though I love cherry blossom season, in my opinion autumn is the best time to visit and travel around Japan. Below is a chart for the average dates to best observe fall leaves in Japan.

Along with cherry blossom season, fall is a great time to visit Japan. In any country, fall leaves are beautiful and make for great photos and this holds especially true with Japan. Japan’s most famous fall leaf is the Japanese Maple Tree which turns brilliant red in the fall. These red leaves are referred to as “kouyou” (紅葉) in Japanese.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Towadako is on the border of Akita and Aomori Prefectures. Towadako, which is Japan’s 3rd deepest lake, has beautiful water that depending on the time of year and the weather changes to various shades of blue. Towadako is situated in the crater of an extinct volcano and as a result is surrounded by small mountains. These make for nice overhead shots of the lake, but there are also trails that go around the lake if you feel up to some hiking.

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The Oirase Stream is a beautiful stream in the north of Japan. Starting from Towadako, the stream runs for about 10 km and is easy accessible by car. Maybe too easy actually if you are looking for a peaceful get away as the road runs literally right next to it; however, don’t let this stop you from going, especially in the fall. It will get a little crowded, but in the early morning and late in the afternoon things do tend to calm down a lot. Take a look at the photos, they speak for themselves. Oh, one last thing, bring a tripod.

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Like Nebuta and Tachi Neputa, Neputa is a giant float festival in Aomori Prefecture. Neputa takes place in the city of Hirosaki from August 1st to August 7th. If you want to see all 3 of the float festivals, Hirosaki isn’t a bad place to stay because it is kind in between the two other festivals (it is kind of a long trip from Aomori City, where Nebuta is, to Goshogawara, where Tachi Neputa is).

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Before you know it, the fall season will be sweeping across Japan and the leaves will be turning brilliant shades of reds, oranges and yellows. Even though I love cherry blossom season, I think the fall is my favorite time of the year. Below is a chart for the average dates to best observe fall leaves in Japan.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Tachi Neputa takes place about the same time as Nebuta, in Goshogawara, from August 4th-8th. Like Nebuta Matsuri, Tachi Neputa Matsuri is a night festival where extremely large floats are carried around in a parade like fashion. The difference is in the “tachi” which actually means “standing” in Japanese. So instead of large, wide floats like at Nebuta, here you can see really tall ones. The floats can be as big as about 70 feet (22 meters) and weigh around 15 tons!

Nebuta Matsuri is a lot more famous, but I actually prefer Tachi Neputa.

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