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

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.

The photo on the left was taken at The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum and the one on the right on the grounds of the Golden Pavilion.

There are many sites in Japanese that give more detailed information, I cannot read Japanese very well, but even so, there are some sites that are very helpful. For example rurubu.com has a map of Japan and a small color picture of a maple leaf to represent the current status of the leaves in the area. Another site worth checking out is Yahoo Japan’s site that looks like it encourages user submissions. If you want to find a different site, simply go do a google search for “紅葉” followed by the year (紅葉 2008) and you will get more sites in Japanese. The photo below was taken at Kinkakuji in Kyoto.

The bulleted list below are places I have been to and personally recommend for the fall season.

• Arashiyama(Kansai)
• Fuji Five Lakes
• Towadako (Lake Towada, Tohoku)
• Oirase Strean (Tohoku)
• Kyoto
• Nanzenji (Kyoto)
• Naruko (Tohoku)
• Nikko (Kansai)
• Tokyo

There are many hotels and a few hostels around Towadako so finding a place to stay isn’t really a problem unless you plan a last minute trip to go during a holiday or peak season (fall). While the lake is beautiful be sure not to miss Oirase Stream. If you live in Tohoku it is definitely worth a visit.

The easiest way to access Towadako is to take a bus from Hachinohe, Morioka or rent a car and drive there. Here are details about taking a bus and here is the story of Lake Towada.

You can see larger and higher quality images at the gallery.

There are a couple of differences from the other two festivals. The main one being of course the shapes of the lanterns, which are large fans. Also, this festival is for the kids and you will see a lot of young children pulling the floats. Lastly, instead of going in a circular route, the parade basically makes a straight line. I found that the the further back I went in the parade route the fewer people where there. So if you want a lot of space, head towards the end. Just be sure to check with the tourist information center at Hirosaki Station to find out where the route is as it is not really obvious.

This was the first of the 3 lantern festivals I went to, so maybe I was more impressed because of it, but I really enjoyed Neputa Matsuri. The floats aren’t as impressive as the other two, but still pretty amazing to me! You can find a little more information here.

Read more about fall in Japan and check out some of my favorite places to see the autumn foliage after the jump.

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 brillant red in the fall. These red leaves are reffered to as “koyo” or “kouyou” (紅葉) in Japanese. The photo on the left was taken at The Itchiku Kubota Kimono Museum and the one on the right on the grounds of the Golden Pavilion.

There are many sites in Japanese that give more detailed information, I cannot read Japanese very well, but even so, there are some sites that are very helpful. For example rurubu.com has a map of Japan and a small color picture of a maple leaf to represent the current status of the leaves in the area. If you want to find a different site, simply go do a google search for “紅葉” followed by the year (紅葉 2006) and you will get more sites in Japanese. The photo below was taken at Kinkakuji in Kyoto.

The bulleted list below are places I have been to and personally recommend for the fall season.

• • Arashiyama
  • Fuji Five Lakes
  • Kyoto
  • Naruko (Tohoku)
  • Nikko
  • Tokyo

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

Nebuta is so famous that it is just too crowded. Don’t get me wrong, Tachi Neputa doesn’t have a lot of open space but it is not even comparable to the crowds at Nebuta. You can arrive 30-45 minutes ahead of time and easily find some front row space somewhere along the route.

Also the parade moves along much faster than Nebuta. Because it is so famous and there are so many people waiting to see it, Nebuta moves along at a snails pace…even for me, a photographer who likes to take his time taking photos.

Finally, I just liked the song better at Tachi Neputa. Here are a few more photos below and check out the gallery if you want to see all of them. Here is some more information about Tachi Neputa.

• • Nebuta in Aomori(most famous and has huge lantern floats)
  • Neputa in Hirosaki (smaller fan shaped lanterns)
  • Tachi Neputa in Goshogawara (instead of huge wide lanterns, this one has really tall ones…up to 22 meters and 16 tons!)

One thing you need to know about Nebuta is that it is REALLY crowded. If you are just a spectactor it might not matter as much, but if you are a photographer, you should do one of the following things to be able to get an unobstructed view:

• • Arrive early, as in at least a couple of hours early and try to find some unclaimed space.
  • Most likely you will need to speak Japanese but you could contact the Aomori Tourist Center and find out about reserving seats (should be done at months in advance as reserved front row seats sell out early).
  • Really the best advice I can give you is to bring a small ladder. About one hour to 45 minutes before, the police will block off the sides of the intersections where the parade will turn and people rush, push, pull, muscle and squeeze to fill these premium spaces. If you bring a step ladder (or find something to stand on) you can get a strait on view of the festival and have nobody get in your way.

Sendai Tanabata is considered one of Tohoku’s top 3 festivals and might be worth the trip to Tohoku if you have the time. I wouldn’t recommend making the trip for those with a short stay in Japan, but for those living in Japan, Sendai Tanabata, along with a trip to Matsushima, could make for a nice weekend.

I say along with Matsushima, because to be honest there isn’t much to Sendai Tanabata. Basically, these decorations are hung all through the covered shopping street and it is really crowded. The decorations are paid for by the shops are really advertisements when in comes down to it; however, some of them are quite impressive. I live close to Sendai, so I have been twice, but I do not feel the need to go a third time.

As a photographer, I feel like you can make some interesting photos. I particularly enjoyed just waiting behind these decorations for people to walk through them. If you are looking for more specific information about Sendai Tanabata here is Sendai City’s Official Tanabata Site or wikipedia.