Sanriku Fukko National Park, Iwate
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)…
Japan Blog by Philbert Ono
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)…
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…
When you visit Hakone, the famous hot spring resort near Mt. Fuji, part of the standard tour route is a lake cruise on a gimmicky pirate boat (upper right photo)…
Onjuku is a coastal town with white sand beaches facing the Pacific Ocean. In normal summers, it gets crowded with beachgoers. Upper right photo shows one entrance to the beach.…
Japan’s most famous Wedded Rocks, bonded by a sacred rope, are off the quiet Futamigaura Coast. The bigger rock is the husband, and smaller rock the wife. (Gender equality wasn’t…
Toyooka is a rural city in northern Hyogo, off the beaten path from Kobe and Himeji in southern Hyogo. The city’s famous symbol seen everywhere in town is the Oriental…
Tottori Sand Dunes (Tottori Sakyu) is Tottori’s most famous tourist sight, the undisputed symbol of Tottori. You haven’t visited Tottori until you see the sand dunes. The desert-like sand dunes…
Japan’s most famous stone buddhas. There are over 60 of them in multiple clusters carved directly on natural stone walls on a hillside. Since many of the stone buddhas are…
In April 2016, major earthquakes (M7) struck the city of Kumamoto and badly damaged Kumamoto Castle. Minutes after the earthquake, I noticed a dust cloud above Kumamoto Castle’s main tower…
Naoshima must be one of Japan’s most famous and popular small islands among foreign tourists. When I visited a few years ago, it looked to have more foreign tourists than…