No more Hakata ningyo doll shops in Hakata Station
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…
What makes Nagara River Ukai Cormorant Fishing in Gifu special
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…
Monkfish in Kita-Ibaraki, tastier than it looks
The coast of Kita-Ibaraki (pop. 42,000), the northernmost city in Ibaraki Prefecture on the border with Fukushima Prefecture, is one of Japan’s prime fishing grounds for monkfish, a type of…
Minabe Plum Grove, Wakayama
Years ago, my very first trip to Wakayama Prefecture included a visit to Minabe Plum Grove, Japan’s largest ume plum grove. It was fabulous. Plum blossoms covered the hills as…
Kyoto by the Sea: Tango Peninsula and Chirimen silk
On a map, Tango Peninsula (Tango Hanto 丹後半島) in northern Kyoto Prefecture looks like a short thumb sticking into the Sea of Japan. Some parts of the coast are quite…
Visiting Toyosu Market
Visited the new Toyosu Market on the second day (Oct. 15, 2018) it opened to the public. It’s proving to be massively popular among the curious and sushi lovers. This…
Japanese stamps for the centennial of the Washington, DC cherry blossoms
The Japan Post Office has issued commemorative stamps for the centennial of the Washington, DC cherry blossoms. The sheet of ten 80-yen stamps is selling for 800 yen at all…
Fukushima Prefecture PR fair
Fukushima Prefecture held a PR fair (がんばろうふくしま！大交流フェア) at Tokyo International Forum on March 20, 2012 to promote itself. Lots of stage entertainment, food booths, mascot characters, and talk shows. Famous…
Prefectural “antenna” shops
I’ve been visiting these prefectural “antenna” shops in central Tokyo. Most prefectures have these shops to sell/promote their local products (mainly food) and provide tourist info. If you’re in Tokyo,…
Kagawa Prefecture is Udon-ken
Kagawa Prefecture in Shikoku has recently scored a brilliant PR coup with its “Udon-ken” (うどん県) tourism PR slogan/campaign. Kagawa is seeing a sharp increase in tourists as a result. It…