Traveling Around Japan

Traveling Around Japan

What do you know about Japan? Japan is not a big country but it has many place you should visit! I will show some great places to go when you come to Japan.

Are you ready?? Okay, let's go!!!

KYOTO

The capital of Japan is Tokyo, but the most popular city to visit in Japan might be Kyoto. So today, I will introduce some things in Kyoto that you might be interested in.

First one is Fushimi-inari-Taisha. This place became the top of the “best attraction by foreign travelers ranking” by TripAdvisor in 2016. The special thing for Fushimi-inari-Taisha is “Red Torii”. Torii is kind of door of shrines, so it is considered that if you pass through the Torii, you are inside the area of god. At Fushimi-inari-Taisha, you can see thousands of red Torii standing in a row there. I promise that your picture will be fantastic and beautiful.

Second thing you can enjoy in Kyoto is “Maiko”.  Maiko is an apprentice Geiko (or Geisha) in Kyoto. Their job is to entertain at banquets by singing, dancing, and playing traditional games with guests. There are many Maiko if you go to the main part of Kyoto city, but unfortunately, they are not REAL Maiko. They are usually tourists who wear Kimono (Japanese traditional cloth) and do makeup like Maiko. If you wanna see real Maiko, please go to “Hanamachi”, where the real Maiko are in the night time.

　Maiko　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Hanamachi

MT. FUJI

Historical things and places are of course one of the features of Japan, but did you know that there are many beautiful places for enjoying nature in Japan? Most famous one might be Mt. Fuji. It is located between Shizuoka prefecture and Yamanashi prefecture, and its height is 3776 meters. You can climb up to the top, but you can also enjoy Mt. Fuji without climbing. The reason for this is because Mt. Fuji takes on a different character with each season and time . One example might be Aka Fuji (which means “Red Fuji”). This is a phenomenon that Mt.Fuji become red because of the sun rise.  And another example might be Diamond Fuji. This happens when the sun sets right on Mt. Fuji. Doesn’t it seem like a ring of diamond? Moreover, there is very rare Fuji which we called Sakasa Fuji. “Sakasa”  means upside down, so Sakasa Fuji is the reflection of Mt. Fuji shown on the lake near it. What is more, it is said that if you can see these special Mt. Fuji, you can get luck in the future!! Why don’t you see special Mt. Fuji and get some luck??

　Normal Mt. Fuji　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Aka-Fuji

 　Diamond Fuji　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Sakasa Fuji

KUMAMOTO

Finally, I would like to introduce Kumamoto. Kumamoto is located in Kyushu, which is in the South part of Japan. An earthquake occurred in Kumamoto last year and many people hit by the earthquake. Kumamoto is famous for KUMAMON, which is the character of Kumamoto. His work is to advertise great foods and beautiful nature of Kumamoto. He is very cute and popular :) Furthermore, there are great places to look around in Kumamoto such as Kumamoto castle and Mt. Aso.

There are many places that you may not know in Japan. Even for people who live in Japan, it is difficult to know everything here!! Come and discover the place or things that you like the most! You definitely can find things and places that you love <3<3<3

Our Stationery Pack for June is the "Travel Pack" and contains items to help and inspire your travels. You can get stickers of the different views of Mt Fuji, or stickers of the famous Maiko and Torri gates in Kyoto. Also included is a Kumamon folder, a memo pad with all the prefectures of Japan, and a travel journal you can use when you finally make it to Japan. 12 items in total! Muji pens, mechanical pencils and lots of good stuff.