After staying at many, many Japanese “business” hotels, you get the knack of sorting the good from the bad, smelly, old and dirty. The Hotel New Hankyu Osaka is a good, cheap hotel, centrally located ...
When you’re in transit and need a feed… what’s more convenient than a restaurant on the train platform? Well maybe the service staff on bullet trains who offer food and drinks. But the platform restaurant ...
Keep an eye out for a chemist (A.K.A. pharmacy or drug store) when traveling Japan. Called kusuriya 「薬屋」 they are a great place to shop for the budget-minded traveler of Japan. Kusuriya in Kyoto In ...
I‘m a huge fan of Japanese coffee in a can. For about $1 you get your choice of hot or cold, sweet or bitter, milk or black coffee. After spending a few days in Nagoya ...
Japan can be hectic. 35 million people in Tokyo. Endless streams of tourists in Kyoto. So where do you go if you want to slow down the pace of travel in Japan? You go to ...
One of the first pieces of advice I give to people traveling to Japan is to get a Japan Rail Pass. I also get the question “should I buy a Japan Rail Pass?” very often. ...
If you’ve been to Japan it’s more than likely you’ve walked in this very spot. These people are bustling toward the Shinkansen Central Gate at Kyōto Station. If you’ve departed or arrived on a bullet ...
Gion is (arguably) the most famous area of Kyoto. There is so much to see. Well know for its geisha district, traditional streets and annual festivals, Gion is the type of place you can visit ...
If you’ve travelled to Japan you know just how convenient this country can be. There are vending machines everywhere: in trains; at temples; on street corners. The same can be said for convenience stores, found: ...
If you’ve taken the shinkansen (bullet train) from Tōkyō to Ōsaka/Kyōto, you’ve probably seen this building. Just outside of Nagoya on the Tōkaidō line, on the way to Kyōto is the massive Panasonic Solar Ark [ソーラーアーク]. Traveling ...
Mount Koya, or Koyasan 「Kōya-san/高野山」 is a magical World Heritage site in the mountains of Wakayama Prefecture. The areas is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. The Koyasan ...
Kyoto has many old shrines. Kinkaku-ji has a history dating back to the 1300s, Fushimi Inari Taisha traces its origins back almost 1000 years. The oldest shrine in Kyoto, one of the oldest Shinto shrines ...
Nagoya Castle is one of the most famous in Japan, with white walls like the great Himeji-jō and a main tower beautifully reconstructed after bombings in World War II. The most famous icon of this ...
I love the convenience (and taste) of a quick coffee in Japan. Coming in all flavours imaginable, including green tea flavoured lattes, these drinks are the perfect aid to powering through a day of travelling ...
With an ancient path leading down Hakone-yama「Mount Hakone, 箱根山」to the famous Ashinoko「Lake Ashi, 芦ノ湖」and its views of Fuji-san「Mount Fuji, 富士山」tall cedar trees surround Hakone Shrine for a peaceful shrine experience. After ascending the 150+ steps up ...
Facebook
Follow Japan Travel Mate