3 Idyllic Places to Practice Japanese 'Forest Bathing'
Your next vacation may be the perfect time to take up shinrin-yoku, or ‘forest bathing.’ Wellness fans around the world are embracing the Japanese practice of immersing yourself deeply into the atmosphere of the woods, and the broader concept of spending more time in nature to improve your health and well-being. Renowned for their centuries-old practices of ritualized baths in outdoor or indoor thermal hot springs that dot Japan, the newer term of ‘forest bathing’ perhaps attempts to reflect how...
Tips for Visiting a Japanese Hot Spring
Japan is famous for its volcanic peaks, which also hint at a national treasure underground: geothermally-heated mineral spring waters. For longer than records have been kept, Japanese have been bathing in natural, hot spring-fed ‘onsen’ to benefit from their restorative and healing powers. For travelers to Japan, a visit to an onsen is an essential cultural and wellness experience, but, like many other Japanese traditions, there are rituals and etiquette to participating. Here’s what you need to know about onsen: There are thousands...
How These Hotels in Japan are Celebrating Cherry Blossom Season
Early spring in Japan spells ‘sakura,’ or cherry blossom season, when the entire country is awash in the lacy, pale pink blooms on millions of cherry trees lining rivers, avenues, mountainsides and park walks. A culture obsessed with seasonality values perhaps cherry blossom season the most, and this may be the best time to immerse yourself in Japanese traditions. Sakura season has been celebrated for centuries in Japan, and the ancient ritual of 'hanami,' (literally meaning flower-viewing) parties and picnics still...
Dare You! Where to Eat the World's Most Dangerous Fish
Prepared incorrectly, it’s 1200 times more toxic than cyanide! Yet this fish has been a treasured delicacy for nearly three thousand years - and foodies with a daredevil streak make sure to include it on their list of dishes they must try on a visit to Japan. Fugu is Japanese for various species of pufferfish or blowfish, as well as dishes prepared from these fish.Their English names reflect their ability to inflate into the shape of a ball up to three times...
Discover 'Japan's Machu Picchu'
In Japan, it’s called the ‘Castle in the Sky’, but international travelers who’ve discovered historic Takeda Castle have compared it to another mountain-top historic ruin half a world away in South America.Peru’s Machu Picchu has made most intrepid travelers’ bucket lists of adventures. But Japan’s Takeda Castle (pronounced: ‘tah-kay-dah’) - that's about the same age as Peru's Machu Picchu - remains an other-worldly experience unknown to most overseas travelers. That's especially surprising considering it’s in the district next door to...
Mount Fuji and 3 Other Mountains You Need to Visit in Japan
France has the Eiffel Tower. The U.S. has the Statue of Liberty. But the visual shorthand for Japan is not man-made. It’s Mount Fuji.The Japanese archipelago is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Chains of volcanic mountain ranges form the spine of the Japanese islands, and mountains have assumed immense cultural and spiritual significance over the millennia. Nearly every population center is associated with one or more mountains, where forests of bamboo, Japanese cypress or maple, and fields of wild flowers like...
How the Postponed Tokyo Olympic Games Will Feature Japan's National Sport
We should be watching the opening ceremony of the XXXIII Olympiad right now. But COVID has changed the history of the Olympics along with so many other features of our lives. Tokyo 2020 retains the name, but the dates have changed.Originally scheduled to take place from July 24th through the second week of August this year, Tokyo 2020 now opens on July 23rd 2021. They are the first Summer Games to be postponed instead of cancelled due to an international crisis.You can still...
Tips for Drinking in Japan
Just as water is served automatically at a restaurant table in the West, green tea appears magically on every restaurant table in Japan. But what about a more… spirited beverage? Japan’s consumption of alcohol is legendary, and involves its own beverages and etiquette.Here’s what you need to know before you order.By: Lynn Elmhirst, Sipper-in-Chief, BestTrip TVJapan has embraced both beer and whisky from the West, and proceeded to develop excellent and well-know brands of both.But for more local flavor, the two main...