Category Archives: Travel: Inside Japan
From Tokyo with Love: Summer 2021
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, tokyo, travel
Postcards from Yamagata
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, ikimasho, photography, Tohoku, tokyo, travel, travel writer, Yamagata
Fine Dining in Osaka: C:GRILL at Conrad Osaka
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, fine dining, japan, osaka, travel, travel writing
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Conrad Osaka
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: 5star, architecture, asia, conrad, design, hotels, japan, luxury, osaka, travel writer
Postcards from Kanazawa
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, ikimasho, japan, Kanazawa, photography, tokyo, travel, travel writer
Silence at Kenrokuen, Kanazawa / 兼六園の沈黙
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: art, japan, life, photography, travel, travel writer, travel writing
Postcards from Onomichi
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, hiroshima, japan, Onomichi, photography, travel writer
Postcards from Miyajima
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, environment, japan, japanese, life, lifestyle, photography, travel, travel writer
Postcards from Hiroshima
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: art, blogging, design, environment, hiroshima, japan, japanese, life, lifestyle, photography, space, travel, travel writing
Enjoying Uraga: Kanagawa’s sleepy secret
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: art, ikimasho, japan, photography, tokyo, travel writer
Four (of many) Memorable Places in Japan
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, japan, photography, travel
Into the Wild: Exploring the Ten-en Hiking Trail, Kamakura / 鎌倉の天園ハイキングコースに挑戦
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, environment, escape, japan, japanese, Kamakura, life, lifestyle, nature, photography, tokyo, travel, travel blogging, travel writer, travel writing, Zen
AN ALTERNATIVE GUIDE TO TOKYO: 10 PLACES TO EXPERIENCE LOCAL LIFE
by joostay
Because there’s so much more to this city than Shibuya, Shinjuku and Akihabara.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: architecture, asia, blog, design, japan, japanese, photography, streets, tokyo, travel, travel guide, travel writer, travel writing, writing
Our dual stay with Hotel Ethnography, Kyoto / 京都のホテルエスノグラフィで泊まった経験
by joostay
Exploring the city via two ambient properties
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: boutique, design, hotels, ikimasho, interior design, japan, Kyoto, Luxury Travel, travel, travel writer, travel writing, unique
Getting cute at Kawai-jinja, Kyoto / 河合神社で美を願う
by joostay
The Kyoto shrine that’s attractive in more ways than one
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: design, ikimasho, japan, Kyoto, photography, shinto, shrine, temple, travel blogging, travel writer
Eating our way through Kyoto / 京都での食べ巡り
by joostay
48 hours. Hundreds of flavours. A foodie adventure through the ancient capital.
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blogger, blogging, christmas, design, food, japan, japanese food, photography, travel, travel writer
Escape from the City: Day Tripping to Jogashima
by joostay
The rugged coastline of the Miura Peninsula, Kanagawa | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, design, fall, ikimasho, japan, kanagawa, nature, photography, Seascapes, tokyo, travel, travel writer, travel writing, winter
Adventures in Aomori / Part 3: Among Nature
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blog, blogging, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, road trip, tokyo, travel, travel writer, travel writing
Adventures in Aomori / Part 2: An Unexpected Party
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, blogger, design, family, food, japan, japanese, photography, travel, travel writer
Adventures in Aomori / Part 1: Heading North
by joostay
Part 1: Heading North | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: aomori, asia, blog, blogger, blogging, design, japan, japanese, photography, tokyo, travel, travel writer, travel writing
Oyster Shucking in the Oshika Peninsula / 牡鹿半島でのカキ殻剥き
by joostay
Working with nature – and against it. Local life in coastal Japan.
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, coastal, food, japan, japanese, photography, rural, sea, travel, Travel blogger, travel writer
Autumn Colours at Akiu Great Falls, Miyagi / 宮城県の秋保大滝の紅葉
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, Miyagi, nature, photography, travel, travel writer
Moments in Miyagi / 宮城でのひと時
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, Miyagi, nature, photography, Tohoku, travel, travel writer, Writer, Zen
THREE DAYS OF FUN IN TOKYO TOWN
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: art, asia, blog, blogger, design, Diary, food, japan, photography, tokyo, travel writer, Weekend
Drinking Matcha in a Bamboo Forest: Hokokuji Temple, Kamakura
by joostay
1,998… 1,999… Lost in a sea of 2,000 bamboo.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blogging, buddhism, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, Kamakura, life, photography, photos, religion, Shonan, travel, travel writer, travel writing, Zen
Reflections from Tohoku, Japan
by joostay
A region rebuilding, six years later.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, beauty, design, earthquake, food, japan, japanese, Miyagi, photography, regeneration, Scenic, Tohoku, travel, travel blogging, travel writer, travel writing, tsunami
IKIMASHO! x ACCLAIM: THE BLADE RUNNER YATAIS OF FUKUOKA
by joostay
Postcards: Justin Egli photographs Fukuoka City
Categories: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, design, food, fukuoka, japan, japanese, kyushu, photography, photos, street, tokyo, travel, travel writer, urban
REFLECTIONS ON NAKASU / Fukuoka City
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: Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: aesthetic, asia, design, fukuoka, japan, neon, photography, travel, urban
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Agora Fukuoka Hilltop Hotel & Spa, Fukuoka, Japan
by joostay
A peaceful retreat in one of Japan’s most vibrant, cosmopolitan cities
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: Agora Hotsel & Spa, architecture, asia, design, food, food photography, fukuoka, hotel, interior design, japan, photography, resort, travel, travel writer
Full Circle
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, fukuoka, japan, journey, life, tokyo, travel, travel writer, Zen
IKIMASHO! TOKYO TO FUKUOKA BY SHINKANSEN
by joostay
1,000km. Five hours. One bento. Taking the bullet train as an alternative to flying.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, countryside, design, fukuoka, hakata, ikimasho, japan, japanese, mount fuji, photography, tokyo, tourism, train travel, writing
Riding the Enoden: Enoshima Electric Railway
by joostay
From Fujisawa to Kamakura – with temples and ocean in between
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, design, Enoshima, ikimasho, japan, japanese, kanagawa, nature, ocean, photography, sea, tokyo, train travel, trains, views, writing
IKIMASHO! 2017
by joostay
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO FOLLOWED IKIMASHO! IN 2016!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, festivals, ikimasho, japan, japanese, living in asia, living in japan, living in tokyo, photography, se asia, tokyo
Plum Season in Kanagawa 2016
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, nature, photo essay, photography, tokyo, travel, writing, Zen
Escape to Izu: Jogasaki Coast
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, ikimasho, izu, japan, japanese, shibuya, tokyo, travel
My connection with Japan
by joostay
Daily life in Tokyo, Japan | IKIMASHO!
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan, Travel: Outside Japan
RABBIT PHOTO SHOOT! / Yokohama, Japan
by joostay
And the award for the cutest thing to ever happen in the history of the world goes to…
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: animal clothing, cats, chinatown, dumplings, japan, kawaii, pedigree, rabbits, tokyo, yokohama
Coming to Japan? Get a Smart Card.
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: backpacking, blog, buses, getting around, ikimasho, japan, metro, pasmo, public trransport, smart cards, stations, suica, tokyo, tourists, trains, travelling
Spider Hunting in Hadano
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, hadano, hiking, hummingbird hawk moth, japan, kogane gumo, kumo, mount kobo, nature, odakyu, spiders, tokyo, train, trekking
Peace & solitude at Mt Oyama
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: asia, cable car, food, hiking, isehara, japan, nature, odakyu, oyama, south east asia, train, travel, udon, walking
Yoshino Baigo: Plum Village
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: Daily Life in Tokyo, Travel: Inside Japan • Tags: culture, guidebook, hinatawada, inaka, japan, mountains, ome, plum, tokyo, ume, yoshino baigo
Visiting Mount Takao in Autumn/Fall
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
IKIMASHO! 