Posted in Japan in Seattle, Photography, Sight-seeing, tagged autumn, シアトル日本庭園, 秋, 紅葉, garden, momoji, Seattle, Seattle Japanese Garden on 2013/11/13| 5 Comments »
I got out to the Seattle Japanese Garden to do some 紅葉狩り (momijigari, maple viewing or “maple hunting”) on October 28. Momiji season is a few weeks earlier in Seattle than in Ishikawa. The garden, which is part of the Washington Park Arboretum, was built in the Japanese style in 1960 by Junji Iida.
Posted in Expat Living, Ishikawa, Noto, Photography, Rural Life, Sight-seeing, tagged japan, jellyfish, manta ray, Nanao, Noto, Notojima, photography, Travel on 2013/07/10| 1 Comment »
On the second day of our roadtrip, we headed to Notojima, a small island in Nanao Bay, halfway between Anamizu and Nanao, which is connected to the mainland by two bridges. It’s one of my favorite places in Ishikawa: the annual Notojima Te-Matsuri Craft Fair in October is always a treat, and it’s hard not to fall in love with Notojima’s scenic charms.
One of Notojima’s main attractions is the Notojima Aquarium (能登島水族館). Tickets are available at conbini nearby (for a discount) or at the door.
This cloudy day was great for exploring the aquarium.
Posted in Nagoya, Photography, Sight-seeing, tagged japan, Nagoya, oasis 21, photography, Travel on 2013/03/17| 2 Comments »
Oasis 21, Sakae, Nagoya, Feb. 2012
Living in Ishikawa’s constant cloud cover means that traveling to other cities, especially in the winter, is a welcome change of pace just for the sunshine. (more…)
Posted in Osaka, Photography, Sight-seeing, Travel, tagged ajisai, アジサイ, hydrangea, Ikasuri Jinja, Osaka, shrine, 坐摩神社 on 2011/07/18| Leave a Comment »
Hydrangeas, or アジサイ (ajisai), are some of my favorite flowers.
In Japan, they bloom between mid-June and mid-July, which coincides with 梅雨 (tsuyu), the rainy season.
Posted in Culture, Iwakuni, Photography, Sight-seeing, Travel, tagged azalea, アイリス, botan, 牡丹, 皐, 錦帯橋, 藤, flower, fuji, garden, iris, iwakuni, Kikkou Garden, Kintaikyou, peony, photog, satsuki, wisteria, Yamaguchi, 吉香公園, 山口, 岩国 on 2011/06/14| 4 Comments »
Wisteria (fuji, 藤）
Over Golden Week, I headed out to Iwakuni in Yamaguchi-ken. Kintaikyô (錦帯橋), the famous bridge, is nice, but the real star of the show was the flowers in and around Kikkô Kouen (吉香公園) .
Posted in Culture, Festivals, Photography, Rural Life, Sight-seeing, Travel, tagged チューリップフェアー, 砺波, Tonami, Toyama, tulip, tulip fair, 富山県 on 2011/05/20| 53 Comments »
The weather on the long weekend that kicked off Golden Week was supposed to be sunny and 27 C in Tonami, Toyama, when I checked on Wednesday. By Friday night, Saturday’s weather was supposed to be sunny and 22 C. Imagine my surprise, then, when I woke up to the sound of rain at 9 am on Saturday.
Undeterred by the weather, my friend and I headed out to Tonami, Toyama for the Tulip Fair.
Posted in Kyoto, Photography, Sight-seeing, Travel, tagged castle, cherry blossoms, Kyoto, Nijo Caste, Nijojo, photography, plum grove, Shogun, spring, UNESCO on 2011/04/22| 1 Comment »
I’m actually shocked it took me this long to get to Nijô Castle. When I travel to Kyoto, I’m perpetually hanging out near Sanjô/Kawaramachi/Teramachi, but when my parents came to visit, we had dinner plans in Osaka and no plans for the morning. Normally I take my new-to-Kansai friends to geek out in DenDen Town or enjoy the onsen of Spa World, but my parents, being neither into the anthropology of otaku culture nor “public bathing,” merited going out of my standard destinations. Nijô Castle (Nijôjô) was close to where we were staying in Kyoto, so we decided to head there.
