The sound of cicadas singing in the trees, the beauty of the lotus flowers in a temple compound – these are such vibrant memories still alive in memory from a recent visit to Kyoto and Kamakura in the late Japanese summer. The heat and humidity is...

In December 1968 Japan’s first Nobel Laureate, novelist Yasunari Kawabata, began his Nobel lecture entitled “Japan the Beautiful and Myself” with these words: “In the spring, cherry blossoms, in the summer the cuckoo.In autumn the moon, and in...

A long day return trip by Shinkansen and local train from Tokyo brings you to Nikko, approximately 85 miles (140 kms) to the north.This is home to a World Heritage temple complex nestled into a mountainside packed with centuries old cedars.You...

This helpful sign was seen at Enoshima, a popular seaside resort not too far from Tokyo.  There is even a “Billabong” surf shop there, presumably not catering to the Tsunami surfer market.  But seriously, this sign indicates that a Tsunami would...

Nara, a former capital city of Japan is home to free-ranging deer, and one of Japan’s largest statues of the Buddha.  The Buddha’s statue is housed in the world’s largest wooden building.  Yet this building, the temple Todaiji, is a reconstruction...