Summer is finally here, and with the arrival of the hot weather, we are ready to have some fun! Japanese summers are synonymous with incredible festivals. In particular, Summer inspires some of the most stunning Natsu Matsuri (summer festivals), featuring Obon dances and spectacular fireworks displays. Everyone dresses up in their most beautiful Yukata and...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...Read More

Arimatsu, located just about 20 minutes by train from Nagoya Station, is a town well known for being the home of the traditional Arimatsu-Narumi Shibori technique, a fabric dyeing method that has been skillfully crafted over the last 400 years. Edo Period traditional black wooden houses along the Tokaido Road During the Edo Period (1603...Read More

Are you ready to embark on a cultural journey unlike any other? Imagine a meal that tantalizes your taste buds with the finest ingredients and a show that leaves you in awe of ancient skills and traditions. At Kisoji in Nagoya, you can indulge in a luxury Shabu Shabu hot pot feast paired with a...Read More

Atsuta Shrine, also called, Atsuta-san or Atsuta-sama, is the second most important Shinto shrine in Japan, after the Ise Grand Shrine. The venerated sun goddess Amaterasu is enshrined here as well as being home to the sacred sword Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, which is one of the three Japanese imperial treasures. Legend has it that Amaterasu gave the...Read More

Japan has a wide variety of traditional noodle-based dishes. Nagoya uses a lot of noodles in their signature Nagoya Meshi, which are dishes local to Nagoya. In fact, five of them are noodle bases dishes! (Ok fine, two of those are actually spaghetti… not sure if that counts!) Another popular type of noodle is udon....Read More

Tokoname is home to Chubu Centrair International Airport, the largest airport in the region. What many people don’t know, is that it is also a city with a long tradition of pottery and amazing craftsmanship. Tokoname is an excellent place to visit for a day or half-day trip from Nagoya (or the airport if you...Read More

After years of waiting it finally opened, the world’s first Ghibli Park, and we were first in line! So here it is, everything you need to know about the new Ghibli Park, the home of Totoro, Mononoke, Chihiro, and Co. What is Ghibli Park? Map of Ghibli Park, image via ghibli-park.jp Ghibli Park is often...Read More

If Nagoya had a soul, it’d probably be located in the Cultural Path. The area known locally as Bunka no Michi (the Cultural Path, in Japanese) is the zone between Nagoya Castle and Tokugawa Garden. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), this district served as the residential area for middle and lower-class Samurai. But throughout the...Read More

To grasp the importance of the city of Seto when it comes to pottery in Japan, you only need to look at one word: ‘Setomono.’ It is the universally used Japanese term for pottery, encompassing all pottery, not just the pottery specifically from Seto. A selection of Setomono pieces Pottery from Japan dated to 10,000...Read More