There is something amazing and energizing about a waterfall. That is a scientifically-proven fact. The tumbling of the water generates negative ions, which research has shown to reduce depression and stress, boost the immune system and improve metabolism, among other benefits. Volcanic Japan has innumerable waterfalls, great and small. It doesn't take a lot of … Continue reading Let it wash over you: A sampling of Kyushu waterfalls
This travel article introduces Dejima, the man-made island in Nagasaki Harbor, where Dutch traders lived in isolation from the mid-17th to mid-19th centuries. (Archived article originally published by Japan Today)
I was asked to write something on Japan's COVID-19 situation and drew on several resources to produce this, another piece of the puzzle that is Japan. (Archived article originally published by Tokyo Weekender)
Late last December, while I was traveling in Kyushu, I received a rather mysterious message that a friend had made a dinner reservation for me at a sushi restaurant in the Oita regional fishing port of Saiki, where I was planning to overnight. The restaurant, Nishiki-zushi, was just a couple of blocks from my hotel … Continue reading Extraordinary sushi from Nishiki-zushi
"A fancy took me to go to Noto. ...[I]t was a case of love at first sight." These are the first words in Percival Lowell's 1891 travelogue "Noto: An Unexplained Corner of Japan". Like Lowell, I've always been intrigued by Noto, on the map a little crooking finger jutting north off the coast of Honshu … Continue reading Noto Peninsula: More armchair travel and memories
“Aso is a good-natured, even-tempered volcano, and it is not often that the steady cloud of smoke and steam which it emits varies in volume...” These words are from In Lotus-land Japan, a 1910 travelogue by Herbert G. Ponting. In these days when actual travel is not possible, I am enjoying reading (and in some … Continue reading Mount Aso: Armchair Travel, Art, and Memories
I'm fortunate that in my travels I often get to meet local people who are doing interesting and creative things. I was able to write a profile of a couple of groups of women in Kyushu and Shikoku who have become successful small business entrepreneurs, producing condiments featuring local produce and local flavors. (Archived article … Continue reading Entrepreneurs on the Rise: Second Career Women in Regional Japan
In these days of working from home and social distancing, when everyone is being discouraged from visiting crowded, poorly ventilated venues, it seems Tokyo's parks are getting even more of a work-out than usual. That's saying a lot, given the overall popularity of parks in Tokyo. Personally, I think a lot about where I can … Continue reading Todoroki Gorge: Tokyo’s deep, green respite
