Author: Philbert Ono

Northern Culture Center (Hoppo Bunka Hakubutsukan) is a former Japanese farmhouse built in 1887 and converted into a local museum. The house has numerous rooms, with a floor space of…

One of the Big Tohoku Summer Festivals, Yamagata Hanagasa Matsuri is an evening folk dance parade of women and children wearing colorful costumes and waving flower hats. “Hanagasa” means flower…

One of the grandest lantern-floating events in this region. The Toro Nagashi lantern floating and fireworks are held on the famous and historic pine tree beach called Kehi no Matsubara…

Japan’s most famous traditional dance festival. Tokushima Awa Odori is the mother of all Awa Odori festivals, especially in the Tokyo/Kanto area where many are held. It’s the Big.Bon.Dance. When…

The mother of all Tanabata Matsuri festivals in Japan. You haven’t seen a Tanabata festival until you see the one in Sendai held annually on Aug. 6th–8th. The colors, variety,…

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is one of Japan’s most famous summer festivals and one of my all-time favorites. Held for a few days in early August, it’s an evening parade of…

The city of Fukuoka’s most famous traditional craft and tourist souvenir is the Hakata ningyo doll. They are fired clay figurines sculpted and painted into a wide variety of traditional…

Held in the evening under torchlight on Nagara River, ukai is a traditional fishing method with a master fisherman on a wooden boat using leashed cormorants. The cormorants dive for…

Nara Prefecture has the distinction of having Japan’s highest number of National Treasure buildings. A whopping 64 of them. This is almost 30% of Japan’s 227 National Treasure buildings/complexes. Kyoto…

The old Rikuchu-Kaigan National Park (陸中海岸国立公園) along the rocky Tohoku coast centered on Iwate Prefecture whose old samurai provincial name was “Rikuchu.” It extended from the city of Kuji (久慈市)…