Return to Todoroki Valley / 等々力渓谷に戻る
by joostay
Forest bathing in the koyo autumn colours
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, autumn, blog, design, fall, Fall Colours, japan, japanese, photography, tokyo, travel, travel writer
Tag: blog
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
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: JAPAN’S GROTESQUE MASK PROCESSION
by joostay
David Lynch vibes at Menkake Gyoretsu: a traditional festival of men wearing ancient and grotesque masks in Kamakura, a coastal city to the south of Tokyo.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, festival, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, travel, travel writer
A walk around: Yaho, Tokyo
by joostay
YAHO / 谷保
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, blogging, design, japan, japanese, photography, suburbia, tokyo, travel, travel writer
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
Hachioji Matsuri
by joostay
What I was up to last weekend – and the next few to come…
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo, Traditional Festivals • Tags: art, asia, blog, blogging, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, life, music, photography, photos, religion, traditional, Travel blogger, travel writer, video, writing
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: TOKYO’S CAT TEMPLE
by joostay
“Gotokuji is an area of the city obsessed with all things feline and many believe its temple to be the birthplace of ‘maneki-neko’ – the cats you’ve seen with one paw held high” I have a new article out in DAZED, exploring the area of Gotokuji in West Tokyo. Gotokuji is a quiet collection of backstreets, bakeries, and flower shops with people going about their daily life. It’s not unlike hundreds of other small stations in Tokyo – apart from one […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: animals, blog, blogging, cats, design, japan, japanese, photography, photos, se asia, temple, tokyo, traditional, travel, Travel blogger, travel writer
Farewell Spring. Hello Summer.
by joostay
❤ A little photo essay of some wanderings from the last month or so here in Tokyo ❤ IKIMASHO on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, tokyo, travel, travel writer
A walk around Jindaiji Temple, Chofu, Tokyo
by joostay
Peaceful tranquility at one of Tokyo’s oldest temples Even after five years, Tokyo still manages to surprise me ~ providing all sorts of new places to discover and enjoy. Last weekend Miss IKIMASHO and I took a trip out to Jindaiji Temple and its neighbouring Botanical Gardens in Chofu, a place we had never been to before. The second oldest temple in the metropolis, Jindaiji features quaint cobbled streets, leafy riverbanks and hushed surroundings. Indeed, it feels more like a small township in Kyoto rather than downtown Tokyo. Jindaiji is especially […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, beauty, blog, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, nature, photography, tokyo, travel writer, Zen
Happiness at Mitau, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
by joostay
Noodles, tea, and a song. All served by the nicest person you’ll ever meet.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, HCMC, ho chi minh city, Saigon, se asia, travel, vietnam
NRT > SGN
by joostay
Right now I’m sitting in a coffee shop at Terminal 2 in Narita Airport listening to a super cheesy sax solo playing over the radio. I have a few hours to kill before a flight to Ho Chi Minh, where I will be hanging out until Friday. Next week is Golden Week in Japan – a string of National holidays giving people five days off this year. Looking back over my blog from the last few months, I’m aware that I’m not posting as often […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, travel, travel writer
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
Fried Bananas in Bali
by joostay
Quite often when you travel a lot – and particularly when you are a travel writer – so many little moments can get lost; photos relegated to the the depths of memory cards, overlooked in favour of bigger articles that are being written at the time. As a perfect example, I was freeing up some space on a card the other day when I came across a group of photos I hadn’t looked at since the day they were taken. Cycling […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, asian, backpacking, bali, blog, food, indonesia, japan, japanese, photography, sanur, se asia, travel, travel writer, travel writing, writing
Setagaya Plum Blossom Festival 2017
by joostay
Each year between mid-February and early March the Setagaya Plum Blossom Festival (Setagaya Ume Matsuri) takes place at Hanegi Park in Umegaoka. It’s a small park, with small neighbourhood vibes to match: the festival mainly attracting local people who live in the surrounding area. I live two stops from Umegaoka, and so last weekend I decided to check out a good sushi place then met some mates to hang out at the matsuri. Cute local festivals like this are what living in the […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, Flowers, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, nature, photography, tokyo, travel, urban, Zen
Lunch at Sushi no Midori, Umegaoka
by joostay
High-end sushi without the high-end price tag
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, sushi, tokyo, travel, travel writer
A walk around: Tsukishima, Tokyo
by joostay
TSUKISHIMA / 月島 Last Saturday I had a wander about Tsukishima – a man-made island in Tokyo Bay, just across the channel from Tsukiji fish market (which I still haven’t been to despite living here five years…) Tsukishima was created over 100 years ago using earth that was dredged from the bay during the construction of a shipping channel. It’s an area rarely featured in guidebooks, although among Japanese people it’s probably best known as a mecca for monjayaki – a kind of runny pancake with different ingredients, […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: area guide, asia, asian, blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, nature, neighbourhood, old japan, old tokyo, photography, shrines, street, temples, tokyo, urban
Dumplings by the thousands at Kameido Gyoza
by joostay
“From China, a thousand years ago: tasty history!”
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, china, chinese food, cooking, design, food, food photography, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, restaurant, travel
Setagaya Boroichi 2017
by joostay
Last Sunday – with the cold visible on my breath – I made a short trip on the dainty Setagaya train line visit to the Setagaya Boroichi Fair. Started over 400 years ago, this huge flea market is now designated as one of Tokyo’s intangible folk cultural assets and features about 700 venders selling all sorts of food, junk, toys and antiques. There was a marching band with students playing the tuba, and everyone was in good spirits. I also tried […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, boroichi, daily life, design, fair, festival, japan, japanese, local life, photography, setagaya, tokyo, town, travel
THIS IS TOKYO // PORTRAIT OF A CITY
by joostay
IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: aesthetic, amazing, asia, blog, city, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, megacity, photography, shinjuku, street, tokyo, travel, travelling, urban, visit japan
Strangford Lough & Saint Patrick’s Church, Lisbane, Northern Ireland
by joostay
What’s round the next corner? Starting the year as I mean to go on.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: 2017, bangor, blog, church, county down, japan, japanese, kircubbin, Lisbane, nature, northern ireland, photography, religion, sea, strangford lough, tokyo, 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
Cave Hill, Belfast, Northern Ireland
by joostay
I’m back in Northern Ireland for a few weeks for the holidays. Today some of my old bandmates and I climbed up Cave Hill, overlooking Belfast. Cave Hill is thought to be the inspiration for Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, with Swift imagining that the Hill resembled the shape of a sleeping giant safeguarding the city.
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: belfast, blog, cave hill, green, ireland, japan, nature, northern ireland, outdoors, photography, travel
WALKING FOR RAMEN
by joostay
A sunny walk through my neighbourhood in Tokyo
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, eating, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, ramen, shimokitazawa, sun, tokyo, travel, walking
Shichi-Go-San / Seven-Five-Three
by joostay
Stumbling across a traditional rite of passage for young children way out in the ‘burbs
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: architecture, blog, culture, design, fashion, festival, Hachioji, japan, japanese, photography, shinto, tokyo, travel
Ramen: En, Hachioji
by joostay
Another shop ticked off Japan’s Top 50 list
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: awards, blog, cuisine, design, En, food, Hachioji, ikimasho, japan, japanese, japanese food, photography, ramen, tokyo
Japan’s Beautiful Shirasagi-no Mai: White Heron Dance
by joostay
A millennium-old Japanese dance on the grounds of Sensoji Temple, Tokyo.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asakusa, asia, blog, culture, dance, dancing, design, fashion, festival, japan, japanese, matsuri, photography, se asia, sensoji, shirasagi-no mai, tokyo, traditional, travel, white heron dance
THIS IS TOKYO
by joostay
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Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, food, japan, japanese, kichijoji, photography, se asia, shimokitazawa, tokyo, travel, urban, west tokyo
Akasaka Hikawa Matsuri
by joostay
When the spirits of mountains and forests roam the streets of Tokyo The summer matsuri season may have died down but there are still plenty of smaller cultural festivals happening all over Tokyo each weekend for those curious enough look that little bit further. For me, visiting these festivals is an integral part of living here: for as well as helping me understand more about Japan, they also satisfy my need to ‘travel’ in that I am constantly seeing something new and fresh for […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: akasaka, asia, blog, blogger, festival, hikawa, japan, japanese, matsuri, photography, se asia, tokyo, travel, video
The Emerging Street Art Scene in Borneo
by joostay
Hanging out with a crew of graffiti artists in Kota Kinabalu
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, asian, blog, borneo, design, ikimasho, japan, kota kinabalu, photography, sabah, se asia, STREET ART, tokyo, travel, writing
Inner Reflection at Inokashira Koen
by joostay
Getting lost in the sound of the Japanese summer Last weekend I took a stroll around Inokashira Koen, a park 10 minutes by train from my house. If I ever decide to move away from Shimokitazawa, it will be to here – in and around Kichijoji. Just west of Tokyo, this area is close enough to the central wards to be convenient but far enough away to have a sleepy, bohemian atmosphere. Then again, being only ten minutes away, I guess I can […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, photography, setagaya, suganami, tokyo, travel, Zen
Shimokitazawa Awa Odori
by joostay
Dancing in the streets of my neighbourhood in Tokyo This weekend was the annual Awa Odori festival in my neighbourhood of Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. Awa Odori is part of the Bon festivities, which are held to welcome one’s ancestors back to this world for a few days. Participants march in a straight line in unison to music performed on the shamisen, flute, drums, and bells singing “odoru aho ni miru aho; onaji aho nara odoranya son son!” (It’s a fool who dances […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, festival, ikimasho, japan, japanese, obon, photography, shimokitazawa, tokyo, travel
Call to Prayer at Dusk: Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, Brunei.
by joostay
Reflecting upon a reflection in Bandar Seri Begawan
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, ikimasho, japanese, photography, se asia, travel
Textures of Taiwan: A glimpse into the backstreets of Taipei.
by joostay
I’m currently in Borneo after spending a few days in Taipei. Taiwan’s political and international status is messy: it has declared itself as independent, but The People’s Republic of China say sod that, Taiwan belongs to us – a claim controversial due to the unresolved Chinese Civil War. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I know the ins and outs of it all: I don’t. Hell, I don’t even know the political goings-on of my own country. What I do […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, china, ikimasho, japan, japanese, photography, se asia, Taipei, Taiwan, travel
IKIMASHO Luxury Stays: Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel, Taipei.
by joostay
Two days of VIP Treatment in Taipei’s most luxurious location Right now I’m back in my regular stomping ground of SE Asia for a couple of weeks. First stop: Taipei, capital of Taiwan. I’ve actually been to Taipei twice before, the last time being memorable for all the wrong reasons when I stupidly decided to break up with my ex-girlfriend in a hotel room on the last day or our trip here. Not something I recommend: an awkward bus back to […]
Categories: Luxury Travel, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, design, far eastern plaza hotel, five star, ikimasho, japan, japanese, luxury, photography, se asia, Taipei, Taiwan, tokyo, travel
Ramen: Shinosoba Tanaka Second, Akihabara
by joostay
Noodles and soup. Nothing else. I was in Akihabara over the weekend for an exhibition at 3331 Arts Chiyoda. Usually when I’m out and about I do a quick search to see if there are any highly rated ramen places in the area. My search of Akihabara threw up a few options, but one shop in particular caught my attention as I’d been meaning to try it for a while now. I first read about Shinosoba Tanaka Second (志奈そば 田なか Second) on the Ramen […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, japanese food, photography, ramen, tanaka second, tokyo
Tōrō Nagashi: Lanterns for the Dead
by joostay
Tōrō nagashi is a long-held Japanese tradition where candle-lit lanterns are released into rivers to guide the spirits of the departed back to the other world.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: ambient, asia, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, darren mcclure, design, eilean rec., festival, ikimasho, japan, japanese, peace, peaceful, photography, Porya Hatami, se asia, tradition, travel, Uwe Zahn, video, Zahn | Hatami | McClure, Zen
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: Visiting an ancient Japanese cross-dressing festival near Yokohama.
by joostay
Ofudamaki was established in 1688 when mothers gave their clothes to male Shinto dancers in the hope of bringing them protection from cholera. My latest piece for DAZED is now online, talking about Ofudamaki, an obscure festival held once a year in a nondescript area 50 km from Tokyo. Check it out here.
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, cross dressing, culture, design, female, festival, gender roles, japan, japanese, male, matsuri, ofudamaki, photography, religion, shinto, tokyo, travel, urban
LITTLE ISAAN BARBERSHOP OF HORRORS: Getting a haircut in rural Thailand
by joostay
This time last year I was getting ready to go to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand for a couple of months. While looking through my camera the other day I came across some photos from my time in Isaan in the Thai countryside. I remember one day Allan and I went down to get haircuts at the local barbershop. The place was amazing – totally unlike any barbershop I’d seen before, with chickens running about and toddlers getting cool buzzcuts. It’s these daily experiences […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: asia, blog, cambodia, design, ikimasho, isaan, japan, japanese, photography, rural, thai, thailand, tokyo, travel, writing
Sunday Mornings & Mango Ice Cream
by joostay
Last Sunday morning I cycled to Enjoin (en-jo-in), a small Buddhist temple near my house. Despite it only being 10am, the temperature was already pushing 30 degrees and the air was still. The cicadas haven’t started yet, but I feel they aren’t far away. I bought mango ice cream from an elderly couple’s house across the street, and then wandered around the temple grounds, sitting alongside the turtles and koi carp. This post isn’t really about anything in particular, just the small and simple things in life that […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, buddhism, design, japan, japanese, meditation, nature, photography, setagaya, temple, tokyo, urban, wildlife, Zen
The Bhutan Exhibition – Hint to Happiness @ Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo.
by joostay
A rare glimpse into the art and culture of one of the world’s most intriguing countries. A few weeks back I was invited along to the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo to check out its latest exhibition of art and relics from the Kingdom of Bhutan – a country I’d love to go to. Unfortunately, the only time I have ever seen the Himalayas was from the window of an airplane as I was evacuated from the earthquake in Nepal. […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture, Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: art, asia, bhutan, blog, buddhism, buddhist, culture, design, himalayas, ikimasho, japan, japanese, masks, nepal, se asia, travel
IKIMASHO! x DAZED: EXPLORING AN ABANDONED (AND HAUNTED) THEME PARK IN INDONESIA
by joostay
“When the park was dissolved, the owners left the crocodiles there to become wild. There’s an urban legend that the crocodiles ate humans, another reason why the Balinese won’t go near the place” Of all my travels last year, discovering an abandoned theme park on the east coast of Bali was one of the highlights. I wrote a bit about it here on IKIMASHO! – but DAZED have picked up the scent (along with the crocodiles) so here’s my full report […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: bali, blog, dazed, design, digital, haikyo, ikimasho, indonesia, japan, japanese, journalism, photography, taman festival, tokyo, urban exploration
My night with Pato Banton in Tokyo
by joostay
Just like a soup in a pot we are what?! Bubbling Hot.
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: asia, blog, bubbling hot, culture, design, ikimasho, japan, japanese, music, nights out, pato banton, photography, reggae, shinagawa, tokyo, travel, uk
Yushima Tenjin Grand Festival
by joostay
YUSHIMA / 湯島 Last Sunday I made my way out to Yushima in east Tokyo – a station one stop from Nezu on the Chiyoda line, not far from Ueno Park. Yushima Tenjin (or Yushima Tenmangu) is Tokyo’s most famous shrine of scholars, and is therefore visited by students all over the city who come to pray for good exam results. Inside the grounds you can see hundreds of ema – small wooden plaques – written by students hoping for entry to the university of their […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, design, festival, food, ikimasho, japan, japanese, matsuri, photo essay, photography, shinto, summer, Tenjin, tokyo, travel, ueno, video, Yushima
Bugaku & Traditional Weddings at Meiji Shrine
by joostay
The start of Golden Week for us – and a new life for many. Today was the first day of Golden Week, a cluster of National Holidays in Japan where many workers get around a week off work. You really couldn’t have asked for better weather – the sun was splitting the trees – and so I headed down to Meiji Shrine for the start of the Spring Festival. Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū) is a shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of […]
Categories: Traditional Festivals • Tags: asia, blog, culture, design, golden week, harajuku, japan, japanese, meiji jingu, photography, tokyo, travel
Tsukemen: CAMINO, Mishiku, Setagaya.
by joostay
Serving up noodles and vegetables that almost look too good to eat.
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, cafe, culinary, design, food, foodporn, ikimasho, japan, japanese food, noodles, photography, ramen, restaurant, sakura, shibuya, tokyo, tsukemen
Hanafubuki: Cherry Blossom Blizzard in Tokyo
by joostay
In Japanese, hana (花) means flower and fubuki (吹雪) means snow storm. So, hanafubuki literally means ‘flower snow storm’ – or more commonly, ‘cherry blossom blizzard’. It happens once a year when the sakura petals begin to fall. Right now, hanafubuki has begun in Tokyo. I walked from my house in Shimokitazawa down to the river at Naka-meguro and the trees were snowing sakura all the way. ❤ Like IKIMASHO! on Facebook
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: animals, beautiful, blog, cherry blossoms, cute, festival, ikimasho, japan, photography, pink, rabbit, sakura, spring, tokyo
IKIMASHO! 2016
by joostay
It’s been three months now since I moved back to Tokyo after travelling for the guts of a year. I arrived in January after my company needed someone to replace a teacher who had quit after the second term. So for the last three months I’ve basically been finishing off someone else’s contract – which has had its good and bad points. The positives: I had actually taught at this school before, four years ago. It was the first kindergarten I ever […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, food, japan, japanese, photography, sakura, shimokitazawa, spring, story, tokyo, travel
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE 2016, TOKYO, JAPAN.
by joostay
セントパトリックスデイ・パレード Sunday was the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Tokyo featuring the usual oddball mish-mash of Japanese-Irish flute bands; cute dogs in clothes; terrifying leprechauns; bizarre Brazilian dancers; and green tea promoted simply because it is green. Throw in some samurai, gymnasts and a guy dressed as a Guinness can, and you have one of the world’s more curious St. Patrick’s Day Parades. Slideshow and video below.
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: blog, culture, design, dublin, ikimasho, ireland, irish, japan, japanese, photography, saint patricks day parade 2016, st paddys, street, tokyo, urban, video
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
‘Some no Komichi’: Fabric-Dyeing Festival in Nakai, Tokyo
by joostay
Exploring a new area with an old tradition… ❤ For the last 3-4 years I have been living in Setagaya-ku – one of the 23 wards of Tokyo. After spending a good deal of time here, I’ve become somewhat of a Setagaya snob, in that I genuinely think it’s the best place to live – my station of Shimokitazawa being low-key enough yet offering access to both Shibuya and Shinjuku in under ten minutes. The area around Shinjuku station is massive, and […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: asia, blog, design, fashion, festival, ikimasho, japan, kimons, photography, tokyo, tradition, traditional, travel, writing
A walk around: Daitabashi, Tokyo.
by joostay
DAITABASHI / 代田橋 Stumbling across a cute Okinawan Town in Central Tokyo Did you know there’s a small Okinawan Town in Tokyo? Well, I say town, but it’s more like a collection of cute shops and alleyways in a residential neighbourhood. I found it by accident the other day while wandering aimlessly around Daitabashi, a station just a fifteen-minute walk from my house in Shimokitazawa. Despite living so close, I hadn’t been to Daitabashi in a long time so I decided to […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, design, food, ikimasho, japan, photography, setagaya, shinjuku, story, street, tokyo, train, travel, urban, video
Staying at Bandula’s House. (Bandula Homestay, Sri Lanka.)
by joostay
Of the many countries I visited in 2015, I’d say Sri Lanka was the highlight. I was fortunate enough to be working with the Jetwing Hotel Group for a portion of my trip, and so was able to experience some really amazing hotels. When I wasn’t reviewing these properties, however, I chose to stay in homestays across the country: families who have turned their spare rooms into lodgings for travelling guests. (Another post about that here.) I fondly remember one family that […]
Categories: Travel: Outside Japan • Tags: accomodation, asia, backpacking, blog, budget, design, food, foodie, japan, se asia, sigiriya, sri lanka, tokyo, travel, where to stay in sigiriya
Ramen: Konjiki Hototogisu, Hatagaya.
by joostay
Getting my ramen game back on. Eating ramen awarded a Bib Gourmand by Michelin. Ramen Walker is a website which specialises in reviewing, rating and generally being a know-it-all when it comes to ramen restaurants in Japan. Right now there are over 57,000 listed on its database, and as it turns out, No.20 on the list – Konjiki Hototogisu in Hatagaya – is just a ten-minute cycle from my house. As well as being rated highly by Ramen Walker, it was one of 10 ramen […]
Categories: Daily Life in Tokyo • Tags: blog, cuisine, culinary, design, food, ikimasho, japanese, photography, ramen, review, soba, tokyo, travel
Takashi Murakami: The 500 Arhats
by joostay
A 100-metre long mash-up of otaku culture & Japanese art history. While it was always my intention to return to Tokyo in 2016, I thought I would most likely arrive in March, just in time for hanami. As it turns out, a position in my old company opened up in January, so here I am. Thankfully, coming a few months early meant I was able to catch the current Takashi Murakami exhibition before it closes in March. Murakami is one of the most […]
Categories: Art, Music & Culture • Tags: art, asia, blog, contemporary, culture, design, ikimasho, illustration, japan, japanese, mori art museum, roppongi, takashi murakami, travel
IKIMASHO! 