Enmusubi: The Shrine-Hopping Trip Japanese Women Actually Take for Love
Introduction: A Real Category of Japanese Travel, Not a Tourist Gimmick Enmusubi (縁結び) means, roughly, “tying the connecting…
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Shimonoseki: Fugu at Karato Market, the Boy Emperor’s Shrine & Walking Under the Sea to Kyushu
Shimonoseki sits at Honshu’s southwestern tip, where the Kanmon Strait narrows to 700 meters against Kyushu — a…
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Hagi: The Samurai Town That Built Modern Japan — Castle Lanes, Shoin’s School & Hagi-yaki
Hagi is a small castle town on the Japan Sea where the map itself is an artifact: the…
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Motonosumi Shrine & the Ryugu Blowhole: Yamaguchi’s 123 Torii Above the Sea
On a headland of the Nagato coast, 123 vermilion torii gates pour a hundred meters downhill toward the…
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Nageiredo at Mt. Mitoku: Climbing to Japan’s Most Dangerous National Treasure
Halfway up a cliff on Mt. Mitoku in central Tottori, a small wooden hall stands wedged into a…
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Iga & Akame 48 Waterfalls: Real Ninja Country and the Training Gorge of Mie
Iga, in the mountains of western Mie, is one of the two birthplaces of the historical ninja (the…
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Ise Jingu the Local Way: Katamairi, Dawn Pilgrimages & the Merchant Quarter Nobody Sees
Ise Jingu is Japan’s most sacred Shinto site — 125 shrines centered on the Inner Shrine (Naiku) and…
Read more →Ise-Shima Ama Divers: Lunch With Japan’s Last Free-Diving Women & the One-Wish Shrine
The Shima Peninsula south of Ise is home to the world’s largest remaining community of ama — women…
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Walk Ueno to Nippori Through Yanesen | Tokyo’s Most Historic Shitamachi Stroll
This route links Ueno, Yanaka, Nezu, Sendagi, and Nippori — the belt of high ground northwest of Ueno…
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Omotesando at Dawn: What Tokyo’s Most Beautiful Avenue Looks Like at 6am
Omotesando at midday is a procession — flagship stores, tour groups, influencers arranging themselves against Herzog & de…
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