Erwin Miyasaka

I wrote before about yokocho , narrow alleys lined with small restaurants and izakaya . Less famous than the ones in Shimbashi or Shinjuku, the yokocho near the Mita station in Minato, Tokyo, are among the most picturesque… If you stroll away from the main street, you will soon find a warm and cozy place like the one in today’s photo… Click on photo for higher resolution: Minato-ku, Tokyo If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Nikon Df Lens: 24-70mm F/2.8G Focal Length: 24mm Aperture: F/7.1 Shutter Speed: 1/60s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 3200 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Kyoto Kitano Tenmangu red bridge Ver fuente

The main attraction of the momiji (maple tree) garden of the Kitano Tenmangu shrine in Kyoto is the arched red bridge crossing the Tenjin River. Positioned in a great spot, and being the only place in the garden where you can cross the river, it is wonderfully illuminated in late autumn, the only short period when the garden is open until nightfall. Click on photo for higher resolution: Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Fuji X100 Lens: Fujinon Focal Length: 19mm Aperture: F/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/80s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 2000 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Tokyo Tower Ver fuente

Like this post? Help us by sharing it! From toddlers up to teenagers, our family travel expert Mark Johnson answers your most frequently asked questions about family travel in Japan. 1. Is Japan safe for children? 100%, it’s so orderly. You see very young kids commuting to school in Tokyo even in rush hour – […] The post Family travel in Japan: Travel Doctor FAQs appeared first on InsideJapan Blog . Ver fuente

Like this post? Help us by sharing it! This week I was lucky enough to catch up with chef and author, Nancy Singleton Hachisu about living in Japan as an American, going back to basics with Slow Food and making ramen from scratch (scroll down for recipe). Having each lived in Japan, we can safely […] The post Ramen recipe and interview with Nancy Singleton Hachisu appeared first on InsideJapan Blog . Ver fuente

I hope you’ve all pre-ordered Dr. Stephen Turnbull’s Ninja: Unmasking the Myth (available May 3rd). I’m about finished my review copy and am working on both a review and with luck an interview with the good doctor himself. In the meantime, … Continued Ver fuente

Tsuchi ningyo are dolls made of clay, produced in the past in many places in Japan. Created in relatively simple shapes, they were manually painted with vivid colors and delicate decorations. At the end of Edo and beginning of Meiji period there were 150 places in Japan producing these dolls, but later the number fell to 40. They are still produced today, being sold as souvenirs and art objects, because many of them feature specific local elements. Photographed here is a clay doll from the Aichi prefecture representing Tenjin , the kami of scholarship and learning. Click on photo for higher resolution: Nagoya Clay Dolls If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Nikon Df Lens: 24-70mm F/2.8G Focal Length: 60mm Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/100s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 1600 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Northern Japan samurai house in Kakunodate, Akita Ver fuente

One of the best preserved samurai homes is the Aoyagi house in Kakunodate, in the Akita Prefecture. The garden, the main house (which was rebuilt at the end of the Edo Period) and the adjacent constructions are preserving the charm of the old times and the serene way of life of a prosperous samurai family. Click on photo for higher resolution: Aoyagi Samurai House, Kakunodate, Akita If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Nikon Df Lens: 24-70mm F/2.8G Focal Length: 24mm Aperture: F/6.3 Shutter Speed: 1/60s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 500 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Kokura castle and RiverWalk Kitakyushu Ver fuente

There’s an article about China making the rounds: “ Too Many Men ” ; “In China and India, men outnumber women by 70 million. Both nations are belatedly trying to come to grips with the policies that created this male-heavy generation.” By Simon Denyer and Annie Gowen This is the kind of reportage that comes up every couple of years : the gendered effects of the one-child policy have been a topic of discussion since I started studying China, at least, and similar discussions of Indian sex-selective abortion have been going on for at least fifteen years that I can recall. Literally 13.5 years ago I wrote: China’s”One Boy Policy”…. sorry,”One Child Policy” has resulted in gender ratios for recent births of 117 (105 is normal): classrooms full of boys; orphanages full of girls. India has pockets of similarly skewed demographics. A student asked me about the causes of this, and I said”sexism and technology,” particularly cheap ultrasound and safe abortion in strongly patriarchal regions

Columbia University Press sent me a copy of Mu Aili and Mike Smith’s Contemporary Chinese Short-Short Stories: A Parallel Text . The book is, as you might have guessed, a collection of Chinese very short stories (4-5 pages at most) presented as parallel texts, with glosses for the hard Chinese words, author bios, study questions etc. It is intended to be used in advanced Chinese language and culture classes. I mostly don’t teach advanced Chinese language, so I can’t say much to its use for that. I guess is it would work well in that context. It is hard to find good texts with teaching apparatus that are not old, and this is pretty modern Chinese. All of these are short short stories that seem to have been published in literary magazines about a decade a so ago. I suppose now these type of things would be entirely digital and appear only on-line. If you want a good way to teach your students the Chinese that people read on their phones today, this is your book. I do teach about Chines

Like this post? Help us by sharing it! The top 3 dishes in Japan? As a team of Japanophiles, we’re a little sceptic. Is it really possible to narrow it down? Tour leader, Brian certainly thinks so. Best of all? His favourites can easily be made vegetarian. There are so many good dishes to eat […] The post Top three (vegetarian) dishes to eat in Japan appeared first on InsideJapan Blog . Ver fuente

Like this post? Help us by sharing it! Tour leader, Mark Fujishige looks beyond matcha’s starring role on social media to discover the history and cultivation of this tasty tea. Matcha (health food and Instagram darling) has been part of the global gastronomic consciousness for many years now. Perhaps you’ve encountered it in a smoothie […] The post History of matcha tea: Thirsty work in Nishio appeared first on InsideJapan Blog . Ver fuente

Among all the Japanese castles, the most beautiful water reflection view is offered by the Imabari castle , aptly nicknamed “the castle on the sea". Surrounded on all four sides by wide moats, it offers many astonishingly beautiful scenes. Photographed here is a view from the main entrance side… Simply beautiful! Click on photo for higher resolution: Imabari Castle, Imabari, Ehime If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Nikon Df Lens: 24-70mm F/2.8G Focal Length: 28mm Aperture: F/7.1 Shutter Speed: 1/200s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 400 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Higashimachi, old merchants and artisans quarter in Kurashiki Ver fuente

Just a few hundred steps from the main tourist attraction in Kurashiki, Bikan Historical Quarter , you will find the old merchants and artisans quarter, Higashimachi. A more tranquil place, charming and well preserved, with narrow streets and traditional houses. Click on photo for higher resolution: Higashimachi, Kurashiki, Okayama If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Nikon Df Lens: 24-70mm F/2.8G Focal Length: 24mm Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/800s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 500 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Rainbow Bridge cool white illumination Ver fuente

Officially named Tokyo Wan Renraku-kyo (Tokyo Bay Connector Bridge), the bridge spanning between the Shibaura Pier and the Odaiba Island is best known as the Rainbow Bridge, named received because of its arched shape and because of the illumination colors used during the holiday season… Photographed here is another illumination version used between April and October, with the main towers lit in cool white. Click on photo for higher resolution: Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me EXIF Info: Nikon Df Lens: 24-70mm F/2.8G Local Length: 70mm Aperture: F/5.6 Shutter Speed: 1/200s ISO Sensitivity: ISO 4000 Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Nakatsu Castle main keep Ver fuente