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 9
Ōmihachiman Guide: Hachiman-bori Canal, Merchant Town and Japanese to Use
Ōmihachiman, on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, is an old merchant town built around a stone-walled canal. Ride a wooden boat along the Hachiman-bori, walk streets of Edo-period merchant houses, and take a ropeway up to a castle ruin with views over the lake, all within forty minutes of Kyoto.
12 min readMinoo Park Guide: Waterfall Trail, Maple Tempura and Japanese to Use
Minoo Park, half an hour from central Osaka, is a forested river valley where a gentle trail leads to a 33-metre waterfall. It is famous for autumn leaves and for a snack you will not find anywhere else: maple leaves fried in sweet tempura batter, sold in shops all along the path.
12 min readAwaji Island Guide: Naruto Whirlpools, Myths and Japanese to Use
Awaji Island sits between Kobe and Shikoku, joined to the mainland by one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. Ride a boat out to the Naruto whirlpools, visit the shrine of the god who created Japan in myth, and eat Awaji beef and sweet island onions, all within an hour or two of Kobe.
12 min readKinosaki Onsen Guide: Seven Public Baths, Yukata Walks and Japanese to Use
Kinosaki Onsen is a small hot spring town in northern Hyōgo where guests change into yukata and wooden geta and walk between public bathhouses along a willow-lined canal. Stay a night at a ryokan, pick up your bath pass at check-in, and spend the evening hopping from bath to bath like generations of Japanese visitors before you.
13 min readHiroshima Peace Memorial Park Guide: Visiting with Care and Japanese to Use
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park stands on the ground beneath the atomic bomb of 6 August 1945, and it is a place of mourning as much as a place to visit. The park itself is free and open at all hours; the museum asks for a small entry fee. This guide covers how to get there, what you will see, the words on the monuments and the quiet, polite Japanese that fits the place.
13 min readMiyajima and Itsukushima Shrine Guide: Tides, Torii and Japanese to Use
Miyajima is the island off Hiroshima where Itsukushima Shrine stands over the sea and its great vermilion torii seems to float at high tide. The ferry takes about ten minutes, the shrine asks a small entry fee, and the tide decides what your photos will look like, which makes it a perfect place to ask your first questions in Japanese about time and water.
13 min readŌkunoshima Guide: Rabbit Island, Its Wartime Past and Japanese to Use
Ōkunoshima is a small island in the Seto Inland Sea where hundreds of free-roaming rabbits hop out to meet each ferry. It is also the site of a secret wartime poison gas factory, whose ruins still stand among the trees. A day here pairs a gentle, happy visit with a sobering history, and the Japanese you need is short, practical and mostly about rabbit food.
11 min readOnomichi Guide: Temple Walk, Senkō-ji Ropeway and Japanese to Use
Onomichi is a hillside port town in eastern Hiroshima Prefecture, where narrow lanes and stone steps climb between temples to a view over the Seto Inland Sea. Ride the ropeway up, walk the temple lanes down, and finish with a bowl of Onomichi ramen, asking for directions in Japanese at every turn.
11 min readKurashiki Bikan Guide: Canal Boats, Storehouses and Japanese to Use
Kurashiki's Bikan Historical Quarter is a canal lined with willows and white-walled merchant storehouses, a short walk from the station and free to wander. Ride a small boat along the canal, visit one of Japan's oldest museums of Western art, and practise the Japanese for buying a boat ticket on the day.
11 min readKōraku-en Guide: Okayama's Great Garden, Castle Views and Japanese to Use
Kōraku-en is Okayama's great stroll garden, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, with wide lawns, a winding stream and the black keep of Okayama Castle rising over the trees. It asks a small entry fee and is an easy walk or tram ride from the station, and its signs make a gentle first lesson in garden vocabulary.
11 min readIzumo Taisha Guide: Four Claps, Giant Shimenawa and Japanese to Use
Izumo Taisha is one of Japan's oldest and most important shrines, dedicated to the deity of good relationships and famous for the giant straw rope over its Kaguraden hall. The grounds are free, the prayer uses four claps instead of two, and it is the perfect place to ask a shrine attendant a polite question in Japanese.
11 min readMatsue Castle Guide: Original Keep, Moat Boats and Japanese to Use
Matsue Castle is one of only twelve castles in Japan whose keep has survived since the Edo period, a dark, weathered tower above a city of canals and lakes. Climb its steep wooden stairs, ride a low boat round the moat, and practise the Japanese for tickets, boats and the way to the samurai street.
11 min readPractical guides
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