Japan’s tourist crowds in spring 2024
Japan is seeing record numbers of foreign tourists ever since Japan fully reopened to overseas tourists in Oct. 2022. The pent-up demand for Japan together with the favorable currency exchange…
Origin of Kyoto prefectural name
KYOTO – Imperial Capital 京都府 Before Kyoto came to be called “Kyoto,” it had a few different names. The most well-known former name is “Heiankyo” (平安京) meaning “peaceful, stable Imperial…
Origin of “Sato,” Japan’s No. 1 surname
by Philbert Ono, updated: June 17, 2023 “Sato” (佐藤) is Japan’s No. 1 most common family name with about 1.8 million people named “Sato.” This translates to 1.5 percent of…
Kyoto by the Sea: Amanohashidate
by Philbert Ono, updated Feb. 19, 2024 “Kyoto by the Sea” (海の京都) is a tourism catch phrase for northern Kyoto Prefecture that mainly faces the Sea of Japan. This region…
Kyoto by the Sea: Ine, floating fishing village
After Amanohashidate, the next must-see place is Tango Peninsula, the main part of Kyoto by the Sea (northern Kyoto). On the east coast of the peninsula is Ine (伊根), a…
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…
Kyoto Gion Matsuri’s new boat float
Meet Gion Matsuri’s brand new boat float, the Ofune-hoko (大船鉾). It made its debut in the Gion Matsuri procession for the first time on July 24, 2014, a week after…
Book review: Kyoto: The Forest Within the Gate
by Philbert Ono Whenever I see a new book about Kyoto, I tend not to pay attention. As if world-famous Kyoto needs another book for PR. There’s no shortage of…
Real Geisha Real Women, Kyoto geisha film by Peter MacIntosh
I just saw a screening of my friend Peter MacIntosh’s documentary geisha film called Real Geisha Real Women at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on June 22,…
Memoirs of a Geisha, the movie
I can summarize my thoughts about this movie in three words: It’s not real. I haven’t read the best-selling novel, so I don’t know how the movie compares with the…