Japan – Page 6 – Jet-Set Japan

Introduction to Traditional Japan

June 5, 2018June 29, 2018Traditional Culture/SpotsLeave a Comment

Featured picture is of Kinpusenji Temple in late March with ume (plum) blossoms.

In this post, we will introduce 3 things about traditional Japanese Culture: castles, temples, shrines.

Castles

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Throughout Japan’s history, there was a long period where the country was feudalistic. Daimyo (feudal lords) ruled not only their land and people, but they also controlled their own armies. These powerful feudal lords built castles to protect their territory. In the pictures above, there are pictures of the castle keep and various areas of the main castle grounds, but in history, the castle referred to the surrounding area (castle town). When visiting a castle, the interior is usually a small museum where you can find historical facts about its history. If you want to see nice views of the surrounding city, you can go all the way to the top of the castle keep. Just be careful of strong winds!

Temples

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A lot of people confuse temples and shrines, but here is the easiest way to differentiate the two: shrines have torii gates (check pictures below); temples don’t have torii gates. However, there might be a shrine on the temple grounds. In one of the pictures above, you can see a small, orange torii gate on the left of the main hall of Kinpusenji Temple. The other picture is of Zojoji Temple, which is near Tokyo Tower.

Shrines

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Now that we know structural difference between a shrine and a temple, let’s take a look at the religious difference. Temples = Buddhism; Shrines = Shinto. Shinto has many gods/deities, and different gods/deities are enshrined at different shrines. The most divine shrine in all of Japan is Ise Grand Shrine. Amaterasu, the God of the Sun, is enshrined there. Another extremely important shrine is Izumo Shrine. This shrine was dedicated to Ookuninonushi (Grand Master of the Land), who is the god of building the land, amongst other things. In this aspect, Shinto is similar to Hawaiian mythology because Hawaiian mythology has many gods who have different powers, authority, and personalities: Amaterasu is like Pele.

When visiting castles, temples, and shrines, visitors should always mind their manners, but it is hard to do so if you don’t know what to do. We’ll write blog posts in the future about manners at certain places.

We’ll also write posts about other topics!

Mahalo for visiting today!

Introduction to Modern Japan

June 1, 2018June 25, 2018Modern Culture/SpotsLeave a Comment

Happy Aloha Friday!!!

When people go on tours or it’s their first trip to Japan, many visitors tend to go to temples, shrines, castles, and other points of interest related to traditional Japanese culture. This is not a bad thing; we think that visiting traditional places will give visitors a deeper understanding of Japan. However, Japanese culture has so much more to offer. So, instead of writing about traditional Japan, which will be covered in a future post, we’re going to introduce a little bit about modern Japan: art and architecture for this post.

Modern Architecture

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A lot of the buildings and structures in Japan can be appreciated as art. Major train stations, such as Tokyo Station, Kyoto Station, Kanazawa Station (in the slideshow above), and many more, are not just transportation hubs. If you are not in a rush and have time to take a walk outside or even look around inside, you’ll discover aesthetic beauty.

Art

Art Night

Sunset Tower

Every year in Roppongi, an all-night art festival, called Roppongi Art Night, is held. People can walk around and check out exhibitions and performances for free. There are also many vendors selling food and drinks (including alcohol), so you can party all night! This year’s Roppongi Art Night was held on May 26-27.

Many parks around Japan have little towers and other structures that look pretty cool. The picture on the right was taken in Shiokaze Park, which is located near Odaiba, and the tower is called Sunset Tower (夕日の塔).

Towers

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Japan has a lot of towers; Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Sky Tree, and the Sapporo TV Tower are in the slideshow above, but there are also towers in Kyoto, Nagoya, Fukuoka, etc. Towers are cool to look at from its base, but if you want to go to the observation deck and check out the view, you have to wait in line and pay an entrance fee. So, if you are on a tight schedule, you might need to skip visiting the observation deck.

Other examples of modern Japanese culture would be anime, manga, electronics, fashion. In the future, we will cover a few of these topics!

Kanpai!!! Drinking Culture in Japan

May 29, 2018July 27, 2018Food and DrinkLeave a Comment

It’s Chad again!

Kanpai is usually translated as “cheers” or “bottoms up” but literally means “dry glass”. Every culture has its own drinking culture, so in this post, we are going introduce a few aspects of the drinking culture in Japan.

Pau Hana Drinks

Japanese society is not only infamous for its work-work-work culture, but also its drink-a-ton-of-alcohol-after-work culture. When I was working in Tokyo, I used to work 12-hour days, drink until the early morning hours, take a short nap, and then do it all over again. The picture on the left is of a drinking area (street) called Omoide-yokocho (思い出横丁, Memory Lane), and I used to come here for my second or third round of drinks with colleagues. There are yokochos all over Japan, and these streets are full of bars and restaurants to drink at. The picture on the right is of a standing wine bar, which serves beer, cocktails, and pupus. Standing bars are good when you want to have a few drinks before going to your next place.

Beer Tasting & Pupus

Japanese people love their beer! You can go to beer museums for short tours and beer tasting after the tours, like Brandon did (picture on the left). The merit of going to a beer museum is that you can try beers which aren’t sold in stores, and the price to sample is reasonable! However, unlike the Sapporo Beer Museum (picture on the left) where you can get three beers at once, other beer museums require you to finish one drink before you order your next one.

The picture on the right is of pan-fried gyoza with beer (of course!). Japanese food/drinking culture is similar to Hawaii because people in Japan like to pupu while having a cold beer, or whatever drink they like. This picture was taken by Brandon at a festival in Sapporo. For those who don’t know, festivals in Japan have many vendors which sell drinks and food. The best thing to do at festivals when you want food or a drink is to take a quick lap around the area, and then decide where to buy your food (not all at once though!).

Drinking in Public

Drinking in public is not illegal, unless certain areas (usually parks) have signs which prohibit drinking alcohol or you are belligerent and making trouble. During the summer, people like to drink at the beach (picture on the left), and during spring, people love drinking under the sakura (picture on the right).

Japanese Grindz! What You Should Eat for Your First Trip to Japan

May 23, 2018July 25, 2018FAQ, Food and DrinkLeave a Comment

This is Chad! Here is a short post about three things, out of the many great food, you should eat if it’s your first trip to Japan.

Ramen

Most people have eaten saimin or Cup Noodle here in Hawaii, but how many people have tried authentic Japanese ramen? We grew up on eating saimin and Cup Noodle, even now! With our love of noodles, coincidentally, our first meal in Japan was ramen. Chad’s first ramen was shoyu ramen with gyoza and fried rice (sorry no picture! we didn’t have smartphones back then…), and Brandon’s first ramen was Ichiran (一蘭, いちらん). Ichiran is from Fukuoka and they specialize in tonkotsu ramen, which is a pork-based broth (to explain really briefly). Brandon’s first bowl of tonkotsu ramen (picture on the top) is in a special square-shaped bowl. The picture on the bottom, also from Brandon, is also Ichiran ramen, but it was in Tokyo. Ramen is always good for your first meal in Japan or after a night out on the town!

Sushi

Of course your are going to eat sushi in Japan!!! Japan is the place to go to have fresh, quality sushi. For those who don’t like sashimi, you can have it aburi (broiled)-style, and this gives the fish a different texture and taste, so give it a try!

Also, sushi is a lot more than just your regular maguro (ahi) nigiri sushi. Salmon, scallops, ika, tako, ikura, uni (yes, it’s good when it’s fresh!), unagi, anago, and many, many other types to enjoy!

Yakiniku

Hibachi is a favorite pastime of Hawaii, and Japan is no different because this hibachi culture came from Japan! Japan takes it step further with high quality meat and all-you-can-drink options. The better the quality of meat, the higher the price will be, but if you know where to look for, you can find reasonable prices for broke-da-mouth meat!

In future posts, we will explain more about different experiences of devouring Japanese food!

Why Japan Is THE Travel Destination from Hawaii

May 21, 2018May 22, 2018FAQ, Food and Drink, Modern Culture/Spots, Nature, Shopping, Traditional Culture/SpotsLeave a Comment

1. Reasonable Overall Cost

The first thing you would have to do is buy your ticket to Japan. It goes without saying that ticket prices vary depending on which season you want to visit Japan. For example, if you want to enjoy the sakura or autumn foliage, these are the most expensive seasons to visit Japan, so you will have to pay a premium. In recent years, the average price for tickets to Japan for one person is about $1000 roundtrip.

The next thing you need to take into consideration is the currency exchange rate. Luckily, the Japanese Yen has been weaker than the U.S. dollar. If you have already planned a trip to Japan and haven’t exchanged dollars to yen, keep an eye out on the exchange rate!

Topics related to cost of transportation, food and drink, and shopping will be briefly explained below.

2. Best Public Transportation System in the World

Can you believe that train companies apologize for being 1 minute late?! That is how punctual the train system is in Japan. Not to mention busses connect areas which do not have trains, and these busses run close to their scheduled times even in traffic.

For locals in Japan, costs on public transportation is a little expensive compared to other countries in Asia, but as a visitor to Japan, you can purchase a JR Rail Pass which gives you access to almost all Shinkansen (Bullet Trains) and all local JR Lines. Using the JR Rail Pass and other available rail passes will be explained in detail in a future blog post.

3. Awesome Food and Drink

In Hawaii, our food portions are ridiculously big compared to the portions in Japan, BUT the quality of the food Japan is hard to beat. Also, you can eat quality food at a reasonable price if you look in the right places.

Fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, desserts, Japan has it all for you foodies! If you like to drink wine, whiskey, beer, Japanese sake, Japan has great choices for alcoholic beverages.

4. Fusion of Traditional Culture and Modern Culture

From temples, shrines, and castles to skyscrapers and crazy fashion trends, Japan is a mixture of traditional culture and modern culture.

5. Shopping

For those who like high-end brands, there are areas in Japan, such as Ginza in Tokyo, which have streets lined with these stores. If you are on a tight budget but want to get a bunch of omiyage for your family, friends, and colleagues, you can head over to Daiso to buy things priced at only 100 yen!

6. Nature

Japan is surrounded by the ocean, just like Hawaii, and mountains cover about 70% of the land; so, depending on the season you visit Japan, you can have different experiences outdoors.

In future blog posts, we will explain in detail various aspects of traveling in Japan. Stay tuned for more pictures and blog posts in the future! We’re still developing our content, but also check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Mahalo!!!