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Asian Opposites: Japan to Cambodia – Japan, Thailand and Cambodia
Asian Opposites: Japan to Cambodia
Cambodia
Dawn breaks as I get on the train to Osaka. Or it would have but for the muffling grey haze. The carriages are filled with sleeping or newspaper-reading white-collar workers, with a sprinkling of other people heading to the metropolis to start their d
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Slip-Ups and Slip-Ons: A Walk Through a Japanese Home
Slip-Ups and Slip-Ons: A Walk Through a Japanese Home
Japan
When you walk into a Japanese home – be it a modern one-room apartment in downtown Tokyo, the size of large elevator; or a traditional wooden double story house in the countryside, with the curving roof and sliding paper doors th
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Three Minutes to the Inn – Nasu Shiobara, Japan
Three Minutes to the Inn
Nasu Shiobara, Japan
“Takshi onegai shimasuâ€, I sputtered into the lime green payphone. I’d learned a little of the language before my trip to Japan. “I’d like a taxiâ€, I repeated in pseudo Japanese. It turns out I’d learned very little of the language: no
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The Used Car Ferry – Sea of Japan
The Used Car Ferry
The Sea of Japan
As I traipsed through fields and shipyards, past small homes with fish hanging in their windows in an obscure village in Japan, I wondered whether I had made the right choice in opting to take a cheap boat to Russia rather than an expensive flight. It had see
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Climbing Mt. Fuji – Mt. Fuji, Japan, Asia
The Japanese have a proverb: "He who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man, he who climbs it twice is a fool." For the Japanese, Mt Fuji is not just their highest mountain (and 35th highest in the world), but their most sacred. Revered for centuries for its beauty and symmetry, it has
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Japan on the Cheap: A User Guide – Japan, Asia
Japan has long held the distinction as being one of the world’s most expensive travel destinations. Many of my friends and family have expressed their long-held desire to visit me since I’ve moved here, but many seem to hesitate when it comes down to the question: “How much will it cost?”
This
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Pure Pachinko: A look into Japan’s Favorite Pass Time – Japan, Asia
Mr. Naito Loves PachinkoMr. Naito loves pachinko, this point is certain. The first time we spoke about the subject, his low voice resonated with an excited buzz that only true passion and Marlboro Reds can create. It was as if he were describing his children.
The Best Game"For me,"
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Harajuku: Punks and Bloody Marys in Downtown Tokyo – Japan, Asia
Japan is frequently described as a country of contrasts between tradition and technology, a country of paradoxes. This does not fully encapsulate the Japanese ying and yang. Harajuku shows a different set of contrasts – the contrasts within the Japanese people; how they can be studious an
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Kyoto: A Tale of Two Cities – Japan, Asia
The Golden Pavilion
When I decided it was time to visit Kyoto, I wrote to Dan, my goatee, art-philosophy double-major college friend, whose path to that city had run through manga, comics, then classic prints and finally the language. He had lived there for two years. What did he think of it?
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Ginza: Tradition and Technology – Tokyo, Japan, Asia
Close your eyes and visualise Tokyo; that image is Ginza. As a Gaijin (foreigner), walking in Ginza is reassuring. It provides western familiarity in a completely alien setting. It's an upmarket district of Tokyo containing the most expensive real estate in Japan (one million yen (£4300)/ m
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A House of Cards – Japan, Asia
Foreigners staying long-term in Japan are required to register at local town or ward offices and are given an identity card, a gaigin card. Once the card is issued, you are informed there is a law stating you should carry the ID with you at all times. How serious is this directive? Read on
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The Magic of Tokyo – Japan, Asia
The first thing that hit me on arriving in Tokyo was how misrepresented Japan is by the media outside the country. Linguistically isolated as it is, the constant portrayal it commands seems inadequate and sometimes downright wrong. We had a vision in our minds, generated by movies such as &q
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Which Country To Visit First – China, Japan, Asia
Which country you visit depends on what you are looking for and how open you are to what you find. Are you a tourist or a traveler? If you are new to Asia and simply want a taste of it, dip your toe into Japan. You will not be disappointed. But if you seek a challenge and truly want to trave
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Book Review: Japanland by Karin Miuller – Japan Asia
Japanland
Karin Muller served in the Peace Corps, later entered corporate life in the acceptable dress fashion with dog and man, ditched it all to travel the world strapped to a video camera in search of life's meaning, or is it the meaning of life. Finding that meaning can be illusive
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Visiting Japan Without Knowing any Japanese
View from the top of Mt. Fuji
Repeat after me: Kimonos, Karate and Karaoke…wasn’t that easy? The land of the rising sun has an abundance to offer so it’s no surprise that millions of tourists flock there every year. If you are considering a trip to Japan but the language
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Close Quarters In Osaka – One night in a capsule hotel
A capsule "hotel room" in Osaka
I checked myself into the hotel on one of Osaka’s typically muggy late summer afternoons. I went to my room, which contained the standard bed, television and clock radio, and when it was time to pull the blinds, I was careful not to hit m
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Just an Onsen – Matsuyama, Japan
Matsuyama usually doesn’t roll off the tongue when Japan’s most popular tourist destinations are mentioned. But Shikoku’s largest city features a landmark that has appeared in several literary works and is considered very soothing.
Dōgo Onsen (道後温泉) is considered MatsuyamaR
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A Year with a Camera in Okinawa, Japan
January
A Japanese White Eye visits the Cherry Blossoms. Okinawa is the first place in all of Japan to see these blossoms and they bloom through the month into early February.
February
A bullfight at the Ishikawa-Dome in Uruma City took place as part of the Lunar New Year festivities. While
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Fuji Rock Festival: A Fun Little, Big Town – Niigata, Japan
Peace, love, and music. Throw in some mud and an enormous little Japanese town in late July, and there’s a spectacle to be held.
Japanese music fans are blessed with numerous festivals at their disposal each summer. But the granddaddy of them is the Fuji Rock Festival. Held annually since
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Hitchhiking in Japan: It’s Almost Too Easy
I’ve never seen anyone hitchhiking in Japan. Maybe it’s because most people own a car or motorbike, and those that don’t rely instead on the fantastically efficient train and bus services.
I was curious though. Curious to see if it would work. And I soon discovered that the co
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