Travel - Nihongo Notes

First impressions of Tokyo: A City of Contrasts

19. August 2008

Tokyo was the first and last place of my tour of Japan in May. The best day I had there was actually my last day in Japan. I spent the day with a friend I’d made online. We’d been talking in English and Japanese for a while and she was kind enough to show me [...]

Gaijin House Japan

20. July 2008

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Jason from JapanLinked.com contacted me recently to let me know about his new site - GaijinHouseJapan.com. Gaijin House Japan is, at its heart, a guide to guest houses - shared houses or apartment buildings where travelers and locals live together, sharing the facilities. Living in a guest house is a great way to start out in [...]

The floating torii at Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island, Hiroshima

14. July 2008

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The floating torii at Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island, Hiroshima

During my first trip to Japan I had the pleasure of staying in Hiroshima for a few days. I learnt a lot about its past and had some great nights out. On one of the days I took a trip over to Miyajima Island and visited Itsukushima Shrine with its famous floating torii.

Sanja Matsuri (Three Shrine Festival) in Asakusa, Tokyo

25. June 2008

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I was lucky enough to be in Tokyo during the Sanja Matsuri (三社祭, "Three Shrine Festival") at Asakusa. It was my first full day in Japan and what better way to start the trip than with a festival! I ended up walking down some of the side streets waiting for the parade to start and found some interesting shops and a very peaceful garden. Once I returned to the temple area it was packed with people waiting with cameras in hand.

Packing for Japan

11. June 2008

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This was my first time abroad on my own and with nobody around to ask for advice I had a lot of unanswered questions about packing. Thankfully we have the Internet! Here’s some of the packing advice I found online and things I found out during my 2 weeks in Japan. Rucksack, Holdall or Suitcase? I guess [...]