The Great Boiling Valley (大涌谷, Ōwakudani?) is a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. A popular tourist site for its scenic views, volcanic activity, and especially, Kuro-tamago (黒玉子, Kuro-tamago?) — a local specialty of eggs hard-boiled in the hot springs. The boiled eggs turn black and smell slightly sulphuric; consuming the eggs is said to increase longevity.
Access to the Great Boiling Valley is via an aerial tram. There is also a road to a visitor’s center just below the Kuro-tamago hot springs site. Most visitors hike the roughly 1 kilometer trail to the actual site where the eggs are boiled to participate in the ritual egg eating. The aerial tram offers a stunning view of both Mount Fuji (on clear days) and the sulphur vents just below the visitor’s center. Present day activities surrounding sulphur vents are the result of massive land slides in the past, construction of concrete barriers and stabilization of the area have been under way for many decades.
Hōnen Matsuri (豊年祭, Hōnen Matsuri) (Japanese for Harvest Festival) is a fertility festival celebrated every year on March 15 in Japan. The most well-known of these festivals takes place in the town of Komaki, just north of Nagoya City. Hōnen means rich harvest in Japanese, while a matsuri is a festival or holiday. The Hōnen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.
The festival’s main features of interest are Shinto priests playing musical instruments, a parade of ceremonially-garbed participants, all-you-can-drink sake, and a 280 kg (620 pound), 2.5 meter (96 inch)-long wooden phallus. The wooden phallus is carried from a shrine called Shinmei Sha (in even-numbered years) on a large hill or from Kumano-sha Shrine (in odd-numbered years), to a shrine called Tagata Jinja.
The festival starts with celebration and preparation at 10 a.m. at Tagata Jinja, where all sorts of foods and souvenirs (mostly phallus-shaped or related) are sold. Sake is also passed out freely from large wooden barrels. At about 2pm everyone gathers at Shinmei Sha for the start of the procession. Shinto priests say prayers and make blessings on the participants and mikoshi which are to be carried along the parade route, as well as the large wooden phallus.
When the procession makes its way down to Tagata Jinja the phallus in its mikoshi is spun furiously before it is set down and more prayers are said. Everyone then gathers in the square outside Tagata Jinja and waits for the mochi nage, at which time the crowd is showered with small rice cakes which are thrown down by the officials from raised platforms. The festival concludes at about 4:30 p.m.
A love hotel (ラブホテル, rabu hoteru?) is a type of short-stay hotel found in North East Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea operated primarily for the purpose of allowing couples privacy to have sexual intercourse.
Love hotels usually offer a room rate for a “rest” kyūkei (休憩, kyūkei?), as well as for an overnight stay. The period of a “rest” varies, typically ranging from one to three hours. Cheaper daytime off-peak rates are common. In general, reservations are not possible, leaving the hotel will forfeit access to the room, and overnight stay rates only become available after 10pm. They may also be used for prostitution.
But nonetheless, the rooms are really weird and themed. They are often dimly lit like a cabaret lounge for obvious reasons ;)
They even have some rooms decorated in Hello Kitty themes if that rocks your boat.
Prices ranges between $35-$100, depending on the length of your stay.
Look at them sitting in the hot spring on cold winter’s day. You know what they say, it’s true that when your bum is covered, you’re all good to go. On a different note, if I ever visit Japan, this is one of those place I want to visit - Jigokudani Monkey Park, Nagano. The monkey park is situated in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture. It is part of the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the northern part of the prefecture. The name Jigokudani, meaning “Hell’s Valley”, is due to the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and formidably cold and hostile forests.
The heavy snowfalls (snow covers the ground for 4 months a year), an elevation of 850 meters, and being only accessible via a narrow two kilometer footpath through the forest, keep it uncrowded despite being relatively well-known.
It is famous for its large population of wild Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata), more commonly referred to as Snow Monkeys, that go to the valley during the winter, foraging elsewhere in the national park during the warmer months. The monkeys descend from the steep cliffs and forest to sit in the warm waters of the onsen (hotsprings), and return to the security of the forests in the evenings.
Nothing political, just polite stuff you should know, in video, if you’re visiting around Japan. Knowing these little tips gets you plenty of brownie points :)
Alright, after you’re done, take a dip on Kusatsu’s Onsen - this video makes you wanna jump in, despite the performance, after a long winter’s day.
How would you like to visit an Inn where feudal lords from the Edo period visited all the time? The Nijo Jinya Inn used to be a meeting place for Feudal lords and is usually decked up with security so that no attempts on assassination can be plot against them. Even the Inn is built in such a way that it is filled with secret doors, secret alley ways and hidden escape routes in case of an attack. The inn is build like a fortress.
Tours for this place are held only in Japanese unfortunately, so if you don’t understand Japanese, bring a Japanese friend with you. It is advisable to make appointments for this place in advance by calling 075-841-0972. Tour takes about an hour long. Admission fee is 1000yen.
Go to this link to find out more about how to get to Nijo Jinya.
Sanja Matsuri is also known as the Festival of Asakusa Shrine. It is the most flamboyant and among the biggest,liveliest festivals in Japan. I would equate the Sanja Matsuri to Mardi Gras because of the similarities - half naked people parades all over the place. It’s really one of the most exciting and mind opening experience to go to a Sanja Matsuri. It is in this festivals that the Geishas and Yakuzas come out to play. It’s a festival dedicated to them almost. You will see men with tattooed bodies parading, geisha’s performing their dances.
The festival pulls over 1.5million people to celebrate together. It is definitely going to be sweaty so you have a lot of reasons to join the crowd to take off your clothes but only if you are a guy of course. I don’t know if girls are allowed to, unlike in Brazil or Costa Rica or …you know, where Mardi Gras is celebrated :P
So the festival starts with a lot of procession, that goes through many districts in Tokyo to the Asakusa Shrine. A little history about it is that 3 fisherman found a statue of a deity, which is now placed in Asakusa shrine, in their fishing nets one day and they have been revered ever since. The festival is an ongoing 3 day celebration too, you can imagine that it is a non-stop entertainment and fun and with all the colorful characters around you’ll be stoke to find that this is certainly a deviation from the normal reserve Japanese culture.
I would SO like to go see it. Anyone wants to buy me a ticket for next year? :P
Eiheiji is the head temple of the Soto Sect, a part of Zen Buddhism, in Japan. It was founded by Dogen Zenji in 1244 making this temple almost 800 years old. Eiheiji stand on a hill of a lush, woody forest, about 15 kms from Fukui city. There are about 70 building all together on the hill.
The temple is house to 150 monks and they accept visitors who would like to stay the night there. You can experience the life of a Zen Buddhist monk when you decide to stay in the temple - that means you’ll be eating and living like vegetarian. You’ll probably be invited to listen to buddhist chants as well. Besides accommodation at this beautiful temple, the sights around it is something to behold. You’ll see a little stream flowing through the monastary - it shows how even 800 years ago, the monks have been able to incorporate nature and architecture in a very seamless manner.
You can also stay in the hotels in the main street if the temple is not something you fancy. But if you do wish to stay, the price is 8000 yen for a night or 3000 yen if you’re staying for a few days. Application to stay at the temple needs to made in advance as this is a coveted opportunity that many seek.
How to get there?
Eiheiji is less than one hour from Fukui. How to get to Fukui? There are direct JR limited express trains to Fukui from Osaka (2h, 5360yen), Kyoto (80min, 4300yen), Nagoya (2h, 5040yen) and Maibara (1h, 2770yen) on the Tokaido Shinkansen.
When you go to Japan, you must attend a Sumo match because it’s a traditional japanese sport. Baseball may be big in Japan but Sumo Wrestlers are bigger, literally and figuratively. :)
The sport is surrounded by ceremony and ritual. The Japanese consider Sumo a gendai budō: a modern Japanese martial art, even though the sport has a history spanning many centuries.
The Sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days Sumo was used in the Shinto religion.
Sumo Wrestling
The basic rule of Sumo is very simple; the first sumo that touches the floor with something else apart from his sole or leaves the ring before his opponent, loses. The fights usually last about a few seconds and its very rare for it to last for up to 1 min or longer.
Six tournaments are held each year and each tournament lasts 15 days. I don’t know how many fights go on in one day with each fight lasting a few seconds. I think they must be many fights but there are also the traditional rituals held before and after a match as well. It’s definitely something that’s worth experiencing.
Three of the 15 tournaments is held in Tokyo (Jan, May, Sept), and one each in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July) and Fukuoka (November).
- 
