In early April, we went to ski for the very first time. We gathered up our courage, brought all our excitement, and drove a bit under 4 hours from Tokyo to the town (technically a village) of Nozawa Onsen (sometimes written as nozawaonsen), in Nagano prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. [toc] NOZAWA ONSEN Nozawa Onsen is … Read more
About 27% of Japan is covered by plains and basins. The remaining 73% are covered in mountains. While this is bad news for agriculture, and life in general, for skiing, it means Japan is akin to paradise. Japan is a major destination for skiing and snowboarding, and the quality of its slope can be demonstrated … Read more
While probably everyone in the world knows what karaoke (カラオケ) is, it’s a little known fact that the world famous drunken activity was invented in Japan. In fact, karaoke is a combination of the Japanese word 空 (kara, empty), and orchestra (oke). Karaoke is a major part of Japanese culture and a favorite destination for everyone from teenager on … Read more