Seasoning the Seasons

Kariyasu, kuchinashi, and moegi -all are Japanese words for colors. The Japanese language has a lot of words for expressing subtle tints. Many have th...

Kakunodate is the "Little Kyoto" of Tohoku, a castle town and popular tourist destination where the streets are lined with traditional-style buildings...

The folklorist, Kunio Yanagita, wrote his "Tono Monogatari" (Tales of Tono) about a century ago. The book related how mysterious beings such as the ka...

Towers that reach to the skies. Towering tourist attractions around the country have precursors in the stupas of Buddhism. Since the late nineteenth c...

The beautiful islands of Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture are known as one of the three great scenic spots of Japan. The view of the more than 260 isla...

Suwa was a center of culture in Japan in the Jomon period before rice cultivation arrived. It is said that in those ancient times, too, people transpo...

With its glass-like translucency, the River Niyodo on Shikoku is renowned for possessing the clearest water in Japan. 124km long, it has its source in...

Mt. Fuji is Japan's highest peak at 3776m. Its magnificence and beauty have impressed the Japanese over the millennia. Climbers flock there each night...

The Awa Odori dance is the highlight of the 4-day Obon Festival of the Dead in Tokushima, Shikoku, in August each year. About 100,000 people join in t...

Kamakura, like the two old capital cities of Nara and Kyoto, also served at one stage as the nation's political center. Minamoto no Yoritomo chose Kam...

Miyajima, an island 30 km around in the Seto Inland Sea, is known as one of the 3 most beautiful spots in Japan. It has been thronging with more than...

Our theme this time is traditional crafts. The Japanese have a long history of making good handicraft use of natural materials. From pottery and woodw...

The Japanese fascination with dolls extends through Neolithic clay figures to Girls' Day festival dolls, puppets and now cartoon character figurines a...

Rice is special to the Japanese. Since rice cultivation arrived here millennia ago, it has molded Japanese society, the landscape and religious belief...

The blowfish is an expensive delicacy in Japan that has been eaten here for thousands of years, judging from the presence of blowfish bones in prehist...

Kyoto is a treasure house of Buddhist statuary. The many statues there include 37 designated national treasures and 416 important cultural properties,...

Areas of Japan experience the heaviest snowfall in the world. The people there have come up with various ways to spend those cold, silent, fearful win...