I was going to post something longer this week, but this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge theme is ‘H2O‘ and that appealed to me, so here’s another photo blog! When I thought of H2O, I thought of rain, and I immediately thought of this photo I took in Nagoya in 2009: I remember sitting by the temple … Continue reading
It’s been ages since I took part in WordPress’s Weekly Photo Challenge, so I thought this week I’d give it a go. This week the theme is ‘Mirror‘, which got me thinking about reflections. In Japan there are so many good opportunities for photos of reflections – here are just a few pictures I’ve taken … Continue reading
I knew it was going to take me ages to write up my 2015 Japan adventures! Hopefully you’re enjoying the almost weekly instalments… Today I bring you Sunday 29th November (12 weeks ago!) when I took a trip to Nijo Castle in Kyoto to see a rather interesting exhibition: Art Aquarium Castle (アートアクアリウム城). I came across the … Continue reading
On Saturday 28th November I strapped my hiking shoes on once again and set off for an autumnal hike in the northern mountains of Kyoto. My plan was to take the train from Kyoto to Kurama (鞍馬), then hike to Kibune (貴船) before returning to Kyoto by train. Kyoto is a great city, but in … Continue reading
Geisha (芸者) and maiko (舞妓), apprentice geisha, are one of the symbols of Japan, and especially of Kyoto. I’ve always been fascinated by them, and by the extreme discipline involved in training to become a geisha, and have wanted for a long time to have the opportunity to meet one of these artisans. Many people … Continue reading
It’s time for ‘Japan by Prefecture‘ again! This is the series that aims to provide the highlights of each prefecture of Japan, along with my personal favourites and suggestions from readers. This week, we’re looking at Kyoto (京都府). Kyoto Prefecture is part of the Kansai Region (関西地方) and the capital is, of course, Kyoto (京都市). A big thank you to Zooming Japan, Sengoku Sophie, and Japan Australia for … Continue reading
After two nights in Nagoya, it was time to continue my journey and do some more work. I went to Kyoto for two nights, stayed in two different hotels, and visited a whole bunch more hotels for work. My time in Kyoto was about 90% work, but I still found time for a little bit … Continue reading
I have just spent the most incredible 4 weeks in Japan. As I’ve been travelling I’ve tried to feed you little snippets of what I’ve bee doing via this blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, but I have in no way covered it all. As time goes on I will be posting about certain aspects of my … Continue reading
Last night the Watershed cinema here in Bristol hosted a Lost in Translation evening which, naturally, I had to attend. Here’s how the evening was billed: Say ‘konnichiwa!’ to an evening of film, music and a pink wig or two. For one night only lose yourself in Tokyo with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson at … Continue reading
When I first came across this recipe on JustHungry.com (which is a fantastic website, by the way), my initial reaction was that it would be way too hard for me to make. But the idea of making yatsuhashi – my favourite treat from Kyoto – was too tempting by far, and I just had to … Continue reading
Haikugirl's Japan 