This is a clip from Kitanomino, Furano. An ice bar….it’s exactly what we need right now in the northern hemisphere. It’s bleeping hot.

A great accommodation place to check out when you are in Kitanomine ski area of Furano. This hotel is run by a family on the slopes of the infamous ski resort. It has 65 rooms only and if you are looking for a family style warm accommodation, this is definitely the place to go. It is also very aptly located and made convenient for skiers and snowboarders who are in Kitanomine for the jump. The hotel is also close to restaurants and amenities. Prices for rooms in Petite Hotel Suzuran is also reasonable with 8400Yen for two people inclusive of tax and two meals.

Read the review here.

Mount Mitake (御岳山, Mitakesan?) is a mountain in Tokyo, Japan. It stands 929 meters tall. On the mountain is a Shinto shrine.

It is one of the many highlights of the Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, which covers more than 1,250 square kilometers of forested mountains, hills, gorges and some rural towns in the prefectures of Yamanashi, Saitama, Nagano and Tokyo.

The trip from Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station to Mitake Station on the Ōme Line takes about 95 minutes. A cable car leads to the village at its top.

It is worth it to go to Mount Mitake for a weekend getaway because it is touted to be one of those “hidden gems” in Japan where culture and history still prevails. :)

Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera (海光山慈照院長谷寺, Kaikōzan Jishōin Hase-dera?) is one of the great Buddhist temples in the city of Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, famous for housing a massive wooden statue of Kannon. The temple is the fourth of the 33 stations of the Bandō Sanjūsankasho pilgrimage circuit dedicated to the Goddess.

The statue is the largest wooden statue in Japan, standing at 9.18 m tall, and is made from camphor wood and gilded in gold. It has 11 heads, each of which represents a different phase in the search for enlightenment. In medieval Japanese Buddhism, a common iconography depicted Kannon with eleven hands and often with a thousand arms.

The statue is the largest wooden statue in Japan, standing at 9.18 m tall, and is made from camphor wood and gilded in gold. It has 11 heads, each of which represents a different phase in the search for enlightenment. In medieval Japanese Buddhism, a common iconography depicted Kannon with eleven hands and often with a thousand arms.

According to legend, the statue is one of two images of Kannon carved by a monk named Tokudō in 721. The camphor tree was so large, according to legend, that he decided that he could carve two statues with it. One was enshrined in the Hasedera in the city of Nara, Yamato Province, while the other was set adrift in the sea to find the place that it had a karmic connection with. It washed ashore on Nagai Beach on the Miura Peninsula near Kamakura in the year 736. The statue was immediately brought to Kamakura where a temple was built to honor it.

The temple originally belonged to the Tendai sect of Buddhism, but eventually became an independent temple of Jodo Shu sect.

The temple also commands an impressive view over Kamakura’s bay and is famous for its hydrangeas which bloom along the Hydrangea Path in June and July. The temple is built on two levels, as well as an underground cave. The cave, called benten kutsu cave, contains a long winding tunnel, with a low ceiling, and various statues and devotionals to Benzaiten, the sea goddess and the only female of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology.

Kaikozan Hase-dera is also part of the Kamakura pilgrimage circuit, also consisting of 33 sites, and is station 4 of the 33 temples of the Kanto Pilgrimage.

To learn more about the temple visit Hasedera.jp

Ikaho Onsen is one of the three famous hot springs in Shibukawa, along side with Kusatsu and Shima. It’s thermal waters are characterized by the high concentration of Iron in its waters, which makes it orange in color. It’s tranquil and less bustling environment makes this a perfect stopover for a relaxing dip in its natural thermal waters.

Check out more about Ikaho Onsen.

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.

Akasaka Sacas is a new shopping space that is as large as tiny “city” within Tokyo area. It was only opened in March of 2008 so currently the hype is all on the space. Sacas is made up of 5 main buildings, the TBS headquarters is among them as well as a residential block. The center has everything it ever needs, which hails it the name a city within a city.

How to get there?

Take the Marunouchi Subway Line to Kokkaigijido-mae Station (7 minutes) and transfer to the Chiyoda Subway Line for Akasaka (2 minutes). The one way fare is 160 Yen.

From Shinjuku Station

Take the Marunouchi Subway Line to Kokkaigijido-mae Station (12 minutes) and transfer to the Chiyoda Subway Line for Akasaka (2 minutes). The one way fare is 160 Yen.

Japan-Guide

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.

Kappabashi Street is a must go for all kitchen gadget geeks, like me. I like gadgets, but i like kitchen gadgets more. It’s a love-hate affair but more love than hate. When I found out that there is a street in Japan dedicated to kitchenware, I was just ecstatic! Kappabashi, a street in between Ueno and Asakusa, has stores selling everything a restaurant or a specialized cook needs. But they do not sell ingredients thought, it’s just non-perishable wares.

So if you need plastic food for your exterior decor, you know where to go.

That is the most magnificent view anyone could ask for on a Friday morning. :) This is the Saga International Balloon Fiesta 2007.