IJT Japan NewsI started work at InsideJapan one year and five days ago (how time has flown!), and I remember in my and Natasha’s induction week, we were told that we would be moving offices very soon. Due to events this year, we didn’t move quite as soon as we had imagined, but I am delighted to [...]
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The tunnel that cuts through the mountain to the coastal area of Ishinomaki is around 500 metres long; a short distance yet one that divides two different worlds. On the west side, is the city, largely charmless in its proliferation of concrete buildings and prefabricated houses, roadside diners and over-head electricity cables. A first time [...]
Filed under: March 11th Tsunami | Tagged: earthquake, ishinomaki, march 11th 2011, tsunami | 4 Comments »
I don’t get on well with early mornings. But with jet-lag still erratically winding my body clock, I find little trouble raising my head from the pillow at 5:45am despite a rather inconsistent nights sleep. The kindergarten in Ishinomaki is small. But then I don’t have many points of reference other than my own playschool [...]
Filed under: March 11th Tsunami | Tagged: 'Japanese children', cute, ishinomaki, tsunami | 5 Comments »
Takayama is a small town in the foothills of the Japan Alps. Far from the sea and any major cities, for many foreign visitors, a stay in this remote river town is their only chance to see rural Japan.
Filed under: Culture, Sightseeing | Tagged: asahimachi, Center4, Don cafe, mini archery, nightlife Takayama, Red Hill, sake brewery, sake sampling, takayama | 4 Comments »
I once met the Emperor of Japan! Well, kind of… At least he and his wife rode past me in a car and waved.
Filed under: Culture, Sightseeing | Tagged: akihito, emperor, Empress, imperial palace, Michiko, Sightseeing, tokyo | 3 Comments »
As with all of the InsideJapan Tour leaders, Steve Parker brings his own skills, knowledge and expertise to a group tour of Japan. A trip across Japan with Steve never fails to be inspiring, but our man has been bringing out the poetic side of travellers….after a couple of drinks of course. Here’s his latest [...]
Filed under: Culture, Sightseeing | Tagged: 'Japan tour', 'Japanese poetry' 'Japan unmasked', haiku, poetry | 9 Comments »
I always knew something was wrong with me. During childhood already, classmates would laugh at me because my pastimes were somewhat different from a “normal” boy. When I reached teenage years, mom and dad couldn’t deny anymore when they saw the sort of friends I used to bring back home. I traveled the world and the seven [...]
Filed under: Culture, Events, Opinion | Tagged: anime, Japan, japanese geek, otaku, tokyo game show | 4 Comments »
I have been back in Japan for 10 days and it feels good. It is hot, humid and sweaty. Not to everybody’s taste but I love it; an escape from the impending and inevitable drawing in of the nights in the UK and the prospect of a cold damp winter that will inevitably follow. I [...]
Filed under: March 11th Tsunami | Tagged: earthquake, ishinomaki, March 11th, Sendai, tsunami, united planet | 3 Comments »
We’re very lucky in Bristol to have a wonderful independent cinema that shows lots of Japanese films which warm my Japanophile heart. So, last night my colleague Natasha and I went to see Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
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In an attempt to raise a little bit more money for the Japan Relief fund, a number of us at IJT signed up to take on the challenge of a Half Marathon. The Bristol Crew has one more week to get their legs ready, but mine happened to be today, in the form of the [...]
Filed under: Events, IJT Company News, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
