IJT Japan NewsEarlier on in April, we had a great blog diary from one of our customers travelling in Japan on the Spring Elegance tour. Tina Vivona and her family from Illinois were in Japan whilst governments still advised against travelling to Tokyo but continued to enjoy the spring weather, cherry blossom and the fantastic culture of [...]
Filed under: Culture, Sightseeing, Travel Advice | Tagged: 'Spring Elegance' 'Japan trip' Kyoto Tokyo Kanazawa Geisha Maiko Hakone 'cherry blossom' | Leave a Comment »
The other evening I found myself drinking a nice drop of red and my mind was inspired to drift back to to my time living in the beautiful prefecture of Yamanashi. Why, you may ask, did this Argentinean vino remind me of my Japanese adventure? Well, though it may be a surprise to many, Japan [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
After some exciting blog posts in recent times, today I bring you a practical no nonsense bit of travel advice. It’s a little dry but it could save you a lot of money and that has to be a good thing! Nobody likes paying commission on currency exchange but like death and taxes, this just [...]
Filed under: Travel Advice | Tagged: money, saving money, travellers cheques, yen | 6 Comments »
Monday April 18th 7pm Last night was our final dinner of the first Hidden Japan tour of the year. We were in Shinjuku, the bright neon heart of central Tokyo. We ate at a traditional izakaya (Japanese diner). Earlier in our tour, we had a memorable picnic under the sakura that included scotch eggs, now with the salarymen below the skyscrapers [...]
Filed under: Sightseeing, Uncategorized | Tagged: april 2011, hanami, kabukicho, omoide yokocho, piss alley, sakura, shinjuku, tokyo | 2 Comments »
My colleague calls it the armpit of Japan. Well, Chiba certainly has a distinctive shape; a huge prefecture sticking out at a great ugly right-angle, like a protective claw around Tokyo bay. And it feeds the capital too, providing millions upon millions of cheap concrete apartment blocks that spew fourth commuters every morning. Like lemmings, [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Brown's Field, Chiba, Gankoyama, Sustainable Tourism, Tree house | 1 Comment »
Another photographer walked in to this shot but I decided it was worth using anyway. After all, it gives perspective!
Filed under: Sightseeing | 3 Comments »
All of our group tours go far beyond scratching the surface of Japan’s beautiful culture but the Japan Unmasked tour is truly magical. The three photos below show only a few of the adventures we had along the way…. hot springs, snow monkeys, fish markets, bike rides through the countryside, boat rides, karaoke, great food, [...]
Filed under: IJT Company News, Sightseeing, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
I travel as much to learn about a new culture and experience a new landscape, as to reflect on my own life back home. On every trip I inevitably return with a scribbled ‘to do’ list of ways I can live better: improve my Italian, practice yoga or new recipes to try. So whilst I [...]
Filed under: Culture, Uncategorized | Tagged: Japanese culture, Philosophy, Slow Life, Sustainable Tourism | 2 Comments »
We are almost ten days into our Hidden Japan tour. It has been perfect picnic weather almost everyday. The sakura (cherry blossoms) are in full bloom, so on Sunday, we took advantage by having a hanami picnic of sushi, bananas, soba noodles and scotch eggs.
Filed under: Sightseeing | Tagged: april 12, cherry blossom, hamarikyu, hanami, hidden japan, sakura, tokyo | 3 Comments »
Whilst the headlines have been screaming of imminent and impending doom, all the reports we have been receiving have been of life in the capital returning rapidly to normal, of the Japanese just “getting on with it”. Could this possibly be true? I went to Japan to find out! As I touched down at Narita [...]
Filed under: IJT Company News | Tagged: cocichi, Curry, hanami, suntory, tokyo | 3 Comments »
