Japan travel
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
Japan travel · Page 7
Kasuga Taisha Guide: Lanterns, Deer, Wisteria and Japanese to Use
Kasuga Taisha is Nara's great Shinto shrine, founded in 768 and famous for some three thousand stone and bronze lanterns. The outer shrine is free, the lantern-hung inner cloister costs a small fee, and a quiet forest walk leads there from Nara Park.
11 min readHōryū-ji Guide: World's Oldest Wooden Buildings and Japanese to Use
Hōryū-ji, founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607, holds the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world and became Japan's first World Heritage Site in 1993. It sits in the quiet town of Ikaruga, a short train ride from Nara, and rewards anyone who makes the trip.
11 min readYoshino Guide: Mount Yoshino's Cherry Blossoms, Zaōdō and Japanese to Use
Mount Yoshino, Yoshinoyama, is Japan's most celebrated cherry blossom mountain, with over thirty thousand trees climbing its slopes. Outside the blossom season it is a quiet ridge of temples, inns and mountain views, crowned by one of the largest wooden halls in Japan.
11 min readNaramachi Guide: Nara's Old Merchant Town, Machiya and Japanese to Use
Naramachi is the old merchant quarter just south of Nara Park, a grid of narrow lanes lined with wooden townhouses, small museums, craft shops and cafés. It is free to wander, a short walk from Kintetsu Nara Station, and a relaxed place to order in Japanese.
11 min readAmanohashidate Guide: Sandbar, Matanozoki View and Japanese to Use
Amanohashidate, the bridge to heaven, is a pine-covered sandbar about three kilometres long across a bay on the Sea of Japan, counted among the Three Views of Japan. You can walk or cycle across it, ride up to a viewpoint and look at it upside down between your legs.
11 min readIne no Funaya Guide: Kyoto's Boathouse Village and Japanese to Use
In the fishing town of Ine, on the Tango Peninsula north of Amanohashidate, about 230 wooden boathouses line the shore of a quiet bay, each with a boat garage at the water and rooms above. The best way to see them is from a small boat, and the ride begins with a simple question in Japanese.
11 min readKyoto Imperial Palace Guide: Free Entry, Tours and Japanese to Use
The Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kyōto Gosho, was the home of Japan's emperors until 1869. It is free to visit, needs no reservation, and offers free guided tours, including in English, making it one of the easiest royal sites in Japan to see.
11 min readDaitoku-ji Guide: Zen Sub-temples, Rock Gardens and Japanese to Use
Daitoku-ji is a walled Zen temple complex in northern Kyoto, a quiet grid of stone paths, earthen walls and more than twenty sub-temples. The grounds are free, a few sub-temples open their rock gardens all year, and it is one of the best places in Kyoto to feel what Zen means.
11 min readDōtonbori Guide: Neon, Street Food and Japanese to Order With
Dōtonbori is Osaka's neon-lit canal street, famous for the Glico running man, giant moving shop signs and the city's love of eating until you drop. It is free to wander, busiest after dark, and the best place in Japan to order street food in Japanese and hear your first words of Kansai dialect.
13 min readOsaka Castle Guide: Main Tower, Stone Walls and Japanese to Use
Osaka Castle is the city's great landmark: a white-and-gold main tower rising from massive stone walls and moats in a huge park. The park is free, the tower is a ticketed museum with a view from the top, and a visit gives you plenty of castle words and ticket-counter Japanese to practise.
11 min readUniversal Studios Japan Guide: Tickets, Nintendo and Park Japanese
Universal Studios Japan, USJ or simply Yuniba to people in Osaka, is the city's big theme park, home to Super Nintendo World and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Tickets must be bought in advance, the busiest area may need a timed entry through the app, and the queues are a surprisingly good place to practise Japanese.
11 min readKuromon Market Guide: Osaka's Kitchen and the Japanese to Eat With
Kuromon Market is a covered market street in central Osaka known as Osaka's kitchen, with around 150 shops selling fish, meat, fruit and ready-to-eat seafood. It is free to walk, best in the morning and at lunchtime, and ideal for practising the Japanese of pointing, asking and buying.
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