Last year, in December, my daughter had her Japanese Language Proficiency Test examination center at the Komaba campus @ University of Tokyo. Located in Komaba Meguro district, Tokyo, this area was called Komaba Meadows and served as a hunting ground for the Tokugawa family!!! When I took my daughter there for the examination, I was
Hachiko, the popular attraction at the Shibuya Station is wrapped with a red ribbon for the past one week. It’s the World AIDS Day on December 1 and he is promoting awareness of the same. Its a perfect sunny day of Autumn here today in Tokyo and life is bright with autumn colors all around. However, if
Londonist had published an article some time back comparing the London Tube and the Tokyo Metro. I have stayed in Tokyo for over 16 years and for business reasons I regularly travel to London and board the Tube/Underground. I personally feel the blog Londonist made a shallow attempt to “compare” these services and declare London a winner.
The Meiji Jingu Gaien Park outside the Aoyama Itchome Station on Ginza Line is one of the most beautiful place in Tokyo for autumn foliage. Ginkgo Biloba trees lined on both sides of the street turn into stunning yellow colors (I went a bit early this year) as below. The street with the Meiji Memorial
Autumn sky in Japan implies CLEAR and BLUE skies. They are called as Aki-bare, 秋晴れ. Mornings start with early sunrise and sunset by 05:00 p.m. It is one of the best seasons to capture HDR shots with thin cloud layers in early morning of blue hour photography in early evenings. The autumn colors add the
So which is the popular garden for tourists in Tokyo? Apparently Rikugien is very popular as are others like Hamarikyu Gardens. Its a quite old garden built around 1700. The Japanese characters 六義園 in a word to word literal translation means “six poems garden”. The garden attracts huge crowds in autumn and spring season when the garden has
Christmas equates illumination and in Tokyo Marunouchi is one of the famous spot to enjoy the festive mood. Marunouchi Christmas implies the beautiful illumination on Marunouchi Naka-Dori, the backside of the Marunouchi Building opposite Tokyo Station. A million LED lights powered by green energy add beauty to a posh fashion street filled with customers in
Look at any wood block prints, Ukiyoe from the Edo period of the Edo (Tokyo) City and chances are that you will find Mount Fuji in the distance. The iconic mountain, in absence of the skyscrapers was visible almost from anywhere in the city which unfortunately is no more the case. The most famous wood
So you are a fan of the Super Mario Kart series? I bumped into a rather interesting concept which I had heard a couple of months back. Driving a go-kart in the Tokyo City dressed up as a character from Super Mario or otherwise!!. Now this is really cool huh? the service already popular with
Japan does not have a national flower as such. I think some might want to call the cherry flowers of spring as one of the most well known ones but there is another flower very popular with the Japanese and that is the Kiku flower in the season of autumn. To know how popular the
The city of Tokyo is awash in illuminations all around. I remember 2004, the first year of Christmas illumination at Roppongi Hills and was amazed to see the lights all around the newly built Roppongi Hills complex with the Tokyo Tower in the distance. The illumination in Roppongi Hills since then is usually held until
A few days back I posted about Sagamiko Illumillion an illumination spot under an hour (Just 50 min from Shinjuku Station via Chuo Expressway) from Tokyo. Every year the theme keeps changing and I visit this spot every year with 2015-2016 theme being LONDON. Due to work I have to travel to London every month
Tokyo, a vast metropolis has many free access observatories spread across the city and Bunkyo Civic Center Observation deck is one of those awesome spots. Not only does it boast of awesome views of the city, it is the FREE ACCESS to the observatory which was so helpful in my initial days in Japan when
Tourists and new comers to Japan head out to Kyoto when we mention the word “Autumn”. I did too, but then I started discovering beautiful spots around Tokyo like Nikko, Okutama area etc. In 2003, I remember, I was told by a friend that the Narita Temple near the international airport also was a beautiful
So we all know how the Tokyo 2020 emblem and the plagiarism controversy surrounding it ended…. You can get yourself a recap over at Controversial Tokyo Olympics emblem ditched finally With the old emblem now out the door, the organizing committee is running against a tight schedule to get a replacement within a year. A couple