Category: Japan Travel
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Nagoya’s Golden Palace. A Trip into the Shogun’s Fever Dream
Some cities scream for your attention. Tokyo is a neon-drenched riot, and Kyoto is a serene, beautiful whisper that’s been discovered by the entire damn world. But then there’s Nagoya. It’s a different kind of beast, a city of industry and quiet power that doesn’t feel the need to shout. It’s got a secret, though.…
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The Stone Behemoth of Osaka. A Gonzo Climb into Japan’s Citadel of Power – Osaka Castle
I’m a castle geek. There I’ve said it. You can lose your mind in Osaka. It’s a city designed for glorious, manic excess, a neon-drenched labyrinth of sizzling street food and beautiful chaos. You can spend days mainlining takoyaki in the electric veins of Dotonbori and think you’ve seen it all. But you’d be dead…
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A Symphony of Noise. Stumbling Blind into the Tokyo Auto Salon
Great. I now need to own a Skyline. Some trips are planned with military precision. Others… others happen when you get swept up in a human current so powerful, so single-minded, that fighting it is like trying to swim up a waterfall. That’s how I found myself being disgorged from a train at Kaihin-Makuhari station,…
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Osaka’s Electric Vein. A Manic Plunge into Dotonbori.
Forget everything you think you know about the quiet, reserved soul of Japan. Forget the silent temples and the Zen gardens. There is another Japan, a wilder beast with a ravenous appetite and a heart that beats to the rhythm of a frantic drum machine. This is Osaka, the nation’s glorious, unapologetic id, and if…
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Gero Onsen. A Soak in the Beauty of the Japanese Mountains
There are times when the relentless hum of the modern world feels like a sickness in your bones. The neon glare of the city, the endless grind, the polite fictions of a life lived on a schedule—it’ll hollow you out if you let it. Sometimes, the only cure is to get the hell out. To…
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Fear and Loathing in Kyoto. A Journey to the City Under Siege
There’s a sickness spreading across the globe, a plague of loud shorts and cheap beer, and it seems to have found its latest patient in the sacred heart of Japan. I’ve seen what my kind—the sunburned hordes from the West, the Aussies, the Yanks, the Brits—did to Bali. They descended like locusts, turning a spiritual…
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Into the Heart of the Japan Alps. A love for Story in Takayama.
The fluorescent fever-dream of Tokyo and the temple-drenched politeness of Kyoto… they’re a fine introduction to the Land of the Rising Sun, but they’re just the appetizer. The main course, the raw, bleeding meat of this country, lies somewhere else entirely. It’s up in the mountains, a place the bullet train map conveniently skips, where…
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Forget the Temples: A Gonzo Journey into the Stone Heart of Japan
Keep it quiet. Japan is more than Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka… There are freaking megaliths. The neon jungle of Tokyo and the serene temples of Kyoto have their place, I suppose. They’re the polished, polite, postcard version of Japan sold to the masses. But if you’re like me, you crave something with more teeth, something…
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Nara’s Unexpected Charms. More Than Just a Deer Park.
Our Japanese adventure had already taken us down from the vibrant energy of Nagoya and through the bustling streets of Osaka for a few memorable days. While I’d certainly heard whispers of Nara and its famed deer, it hadn’t initially made our tight itinerary, curated by a travel companion as we journeyed south from Tokyo.…