For over 1300 years, local fishermen in Japan have used an unusual technique to catch river fish during the summer. Japanese cormorants called U in Japanese are trained for up to three years by their owners to help them catch fish. Known as Ukai in Japanese, cormorant fishing is a unique traditional method that is rare today and mostly continued as both a tourist attraction and a way to keep...Read More

The Nippon Domannaka Festival, commonly known as Domatsuri, is one of the most energetic and vibrant festivals all around Japan. It is held in Nagoya, at the end of August, when the summer heat reaches its peak.  Domatsuri is a multi-day-festival that fills Nagoya city and its surroundings with hundreds of Yosakoi dancers coming from all over the country and even abroad. Watch the performance of the winning team from...Read More

Cosplay — the art of dressing up as characters from anime, manga, video games, TV shows, or any other media — has become a global phenomenon over the years. Once dressed in their Cosplay, Cosplayers attend conventions to take photos, enter competitions, or perform theatrical routines. The World Cosplay Summit is a perfect occasion to do all of this at the same time. It’s the world’s biggest cosplay event, and...Read More

When we heard for the first time that Ghibli Park was going to open close to Nagoya in the autumn of 2022 we were so excited! Sure it was still years away, but it would mean more western travelers would visit and enjoy Nagoya, and hopefully stick around to see more of our fascinating second home. We got the first teasers of the construction at the beginning of 2022, making...Read More

A fairy tale might not have been what you were expecting when you opened this blog post, but we will tell you one anyway. It is a story of gods and love. Orihime, the sewing princess and daughter of the Sky King, was sewing beautiful clothes by the Heavenly River, known in our modern understanding as the Milky Way. The Sky King loved his daughter very much and also her...Read More