by joostay
Working with nature – and against it. Local life in coastal Japan.
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, coastal, food, japan, japanese, justin egli, photography, rural, sea, travel, Travel blogger, travel writer
by joostay
My visit to Miyagi Prefecture last weekend coincided with koyo season – the changing of the leaves. Driving through the winding roads of Akiu Onsen, an area famous for its hot springs, we eventually found ourselves at Akiu Great Falls. This 55-metre high waterfall is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty, and really did look like something from a fairytale. Reflections from Tohoku, Japan Moments in Miyagi / 宮城でのひと時 IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, autumn, blog, Colours, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, Miyagi, nature, photography, travel, travel writer
by joostay
Right now I am back in Tokyo after spending a few sun-soaked Autumnal days in Miyagi prefecture. In recent months I have come to really appreciate and enjoy the contrast between urban city life and that of the Japanese inaka (田舎) rural countryside. Spending time with my girlfriend’s family who are volunteering after the tsunami, I feel incredibly lucky to have been introduced to life in Tohoku, absorbing everything around me. Above all, the last few days have reaffirmed my belief that […]
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, food, japan, japanese, justin egli, Miyagi, nature, photography, Tohoku, travel, travel writer, Writer, Zen
by joostay
Last weekend was seriously one of the best weekends I have had in years. There is a fine line being a travel blogger – I obviously want to write informative posts about places, but sometimes I like the fact that this site is simply a diary for myself, and something I can look back on in years to come. And so this post isn’t really about anything, and yet it’s about everything. This is what my three-day weekend looked like […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: art, asia, blog, blogger, design, Diary, food, japan, justin egli, photography, tokyo, travel writer, Weekend
by joostay
1,998… 1,999… Lost in a sea of 2,000 bamboo.
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, Kamakura, life, photography, photos, religion, Shonan, travel, travel writer, travel writing, Zen
by joostay
A region rebuilding, six years later.
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, beauty, design, earthquake, food, japan, japanese, justin egli, Miyagi, photography, regeneration, Scenic, Tohoku, travel, travel blogging, travel writer, travel writing, tsunami
by joostay
Postcards: Justin Egli photographs Fukuoka City
Categories: Art: stuff I've drawn, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, design, food, fukuoka, japan, japanese, justin egli, kyushu, photography, photos, street, tokyo, travel, travel writer, urban
by joostay
Nakasu (中洲) is the red-light district which exists between the neon-lit sandbank of the Naka River (那珂川) and the Hakata River (博多川) in Fukuoka City
Categories: Bizarre/Unique, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: aesthetic, asia, design, fukuoka, japan, justin egli, neon, photography, travel, urban
by joostay
Welcome to Dazaifu (太宰府市), a small, quiet city on the outskirts of Fukuoka in southern Japan.
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, Dazaifu, food, fukuoka, japan, japanese, justin egli, kyushu, nature, photography, shinto, travel, Zen
by joostay
A peaceful retreat in one of Japan’s most vibrant, cosmopolitan cities
Categories: Luxury Stays, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: Agora Hotsel & Spa, architecture, asia, design, food, food photography, fukuoka, hotel, interior design, japan, justin egli, photography, resort, travel, travel writer
by joostay
And so life goes full circle… In 2003 I touched down in Japan for the first time, living in this apartment block in Fukuoka city. Last weekend I went back to visit – a whopping 13 years later. I hadn’t been back during that time at all, but thankfully everything is exactly how I remember it, right down to my old post box, and the sign for the supermarket. It was such a strange feeling, and I experienced the ultimate sensation […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, fukuoka, japan, journey, justin egli, life, tokyo, travel, travel writer, Zen
by joostay
1,000km. Five hours. One bento. Taking the bullet train as an alternative to flying.
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, countryside, design, fukuoka, hakata, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, mount fuji, photography, tokyo, tourism, train travel, writing
by joostay
From Fujisawa to Kamakura – with temples and ocean in between
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, design, Enoshima, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, kanagawa, nature, ocean, photography, sea, tokyo, train travel, trains, views, writing
by joostay
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWED IKIMASHO! IN 2016!
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, festivals, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, living in asia, living in japan, living in tokyo, photography, se asia, tokyo
by joostay
34,998… 34,999 … 35,000 plum blossom trees in bloom at Soga Bessho Bairin. Last Saturday I woke up early and by 8.30am was already heading west out of Tokyo towards Shimosoga – a station in northeast Odawara, Kanagawa prefecture. I was on my way to get lost in Soga Bessho Bairin, a grove of 35,000 plum trees in the inaka, Japan’s countryside. There was a small festival being held to celebrate the plum bossoms. After about an hour on the Odakyu line the […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, nature, photo essay, photography, tokyo, travel, writing, Zen
by joostay
Disclaimer: this post contains unnecessary navel-gazing and anal flowery descriptors such as ‘turquoise-blue’. If you’re OK with that, read on. Tokyo is an odd beast. A month-or-so ago I wrote of my need to escape the city – packing a bag and head…
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, ikimasho, izu, japan, japanese, justin egli, shibuya, tokyo, travel
by joostay
My Disposable Japan series is featured in ACCLAIM this month. Check it out here.
Categories: Art Music & Culture, Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: 35mm, blog, disposable, film, hiroshima, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, photography, tokyo, travel
by joostay
Random images from Japan taken with a disposable camera 2003/04 [click to scroll] DISPOSABLE JAPAN #1
Categories: Art Music & Culture, Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: art, asia, blog, culture, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, justin egli, photography, se asia, south east asia, tokyo, travel, urban
by joostay
Many first-time visitors to this site stumble upon it via Google while looking for information on Tokyo, or how to become a kindergarten teacher in Japan. You may be wondering then why essentially all the posts since April have been non-Japan related. Well, for the last six months I have pretty much been travelling non-stop. I had always toyed with the idea of setting up a sister site to IKIMASHO! – one for my travels outside of Japan, but the truth is […]
Categories: Bizarre/Unique, Kindergarten Life, Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, blogging, design, ikimasho, japan, justin egli, photography, tokyo, travel, wordpress, writing
by joostay
Nature vs Nurture. My father has a lot to answer for. This ruffian here is my father. You can almost see the catapult hanging out of his back pocket. Growing up, we both looked very similar – but over the years our personalities have also merged, with me subconsciously adopting a lot of his traits. As a young man my dad travelled a lot. He was shipped off to live in Switzerland when he was 15, became fluent in German […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan
by joostay
And the award for the cutest thing to ever happen in the history of the world goes to…
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: animal clothing, cats, chinatown, dumplings, japan, kawaii, pedigree, rabbits, tokyo, yokohama
by joostay
Travelling around Japan doesn’t have to be difficult I get a lot of emails from people asking for advice when they are coming to Japan: places to go, things to see as well as logistical stuff about travelling around the country. Besides mastering the use of chopsticks before getting off the plane, by far the single piece of advice I can give you is GET A SMART CARD AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE. So what is a Smart Card? Well […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: backpacking, blog, buses, getting around, ikimasho, japan, metro, pasmo, public trransport, smart cards, stations, suica, tokyo, tourists, trains, travelling
by joostay
Mount Kobo is a nice way to spend an afternoon. Just watch you don’t bump into the locals… I’ve always been fascinated with insects. As a kid I would spend hours in the garden overturning rocks, wondering which weird and wonderful creatures I would find next. At a young age spiders did scare me to an extent, but not to the point that they would keep me at bay. I’d find a web, throw a leaf onto it and then […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, hadano, hiking, hummingbird hawk moth, japan, kogane gumo, kumo, mount kobo, nature, odakyu, spiders, tokyo, train, trekking
by joostay
Why Mt Oyama earns its place on the list of ‘Kanagawa’s 50 Most Scenic Sites’ One of the best things about living in Tokyo is the ease of which you can escape it. Travel an hour in any direction and you’ll either end up on the beach or on top of a mountain. Izu and Hakone are both great day escapes – as is Takao, just an hour away from central Tokyo on the Keio line. The problem with Takao, however, is its popularity. 3 […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, cable car, food, hiking, isehara, japan, nature, odakyu, oyama, south east asia, train, travel, udon, walking
by joostay
Takoyaki, trees and silence: a plum pilgrimage to the hills of western Tokyo. Nobuo Umeatsu is a genius. Composer of the Final Fantasy soundtracks, he somehow manages to create atmospheric pieces of music that lie dormant in your brain only to burst to life once again at the most random moments. The reason I mention him is because the other day I visited a place called Plum Village. Nestled somewhere between the Tama River and the Yoshino mountains in the […]
Categories: Tokyo Days, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: culture, guidebook, hinatawada, inaka, japan, mountains, ome, plum, tokyo, ume, yoshino baigo
by joostay
Takao-san is the world’s busiest mountain. 2.6 million people climbed its slopes in 2011 alone, and last weekend it felt like every single one of them was there – shuffling along, taking pictures and eating carefully prepared bentos under the fall…
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan
by joostay
As much as Tokyo is an amazing place to live, the past week or so I’ve been feeling suffocated by the city. The heady summer concoction of heat, humidity and concrete drains the life out of you – often making you feel like there’s no escape. Yes, …
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan, Uncategorized
