100 Things We’ve Learned in 100 Days
1. While it’s probably true all around the world, breasts are literally worshipped in Japan – the Jison-in temple in Wakayama is covered in boobs. 2. If you tell a Japanese person something unexpected, an involuntary noise will escape from them: “Eiiiiiiigghh!” If you tell them something truly extraordinary, it will become deeper and longer: ...
A Gaijin’s Guide to the Ryokan
Staying at a ryokan – a traditional Japanese inn – can be an intimidating experience for the first-timer. With that in mind, we present our handy cut-out-and keep to surviving enjoying your stay. Step One: Take off your shoes. It’s preferable if you can do this by reversing neatly, thereby allowing a quick getaway when ...
Our Final Dip
Almost 80 days have passed since we first experienced onsens and as we are about to leave Kyushu, one of the homes of the traditional hot spring, we thought we’d cover them one last time. I’m genuinely not sure how many hotels and resorts we’ve been in since that day in Niigata that have onsens, but ...
Buried Alive
A certain amount of it has to come down to trust. Advertising today has got to a point where people regurgitate the work of copywriters as their own opinion without really knowing what they’re talking about: “Yeah but [this generic health product or treatment] is full of nutrients and natural goodness.” What does that actually ...
Five, Seven, Five
My home town of Ayr isn’t known for much, although, over the years, we’ve had one or two famous denizens. The bloke who invented tarmac, for one; a tan-and-white cow for another. By far and away the most famous, though, is Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet. Ring any bells? Maybe not, but if nothing else, ...
A Little Prince, Weird Eggs and a Journey to Another World
The Little Prince (or Le Petit Prince, to give him his original, French name) gets around a bit. He’s the star of what people say is a children’s book, but, like the greatest stories, it’s not exclusively for younger readers. Katy didn’t meet the little wanderer until she was well into her teens. The moment ...
Haute Hakone
First of all I should make it clear: I don’t have to write this. I mean, no one has told me to write it, and I’d probably ignore them if they did. Secondly, you need to know about Gora Kadan, which might sound like a second division Romanian football team, but is in fact a ...
Monkey Business
When Katy and I first met we went through our favourite movies together, as new couples tend to do. There was plenty of crossover. Katy: “Have you seen Amelie?” I had seen Amelie. “Have you seen Garden State?” I had, even though I couldn’t remember much about it. “Have you seen Baraka?” I had not, ...
Kusatsu: It’s Not Just For Christmas (or Autumn Part Two)
The town of Zao Onsen, back in Yamagata prefecture, was a nice wee place – we just happened to arrive there at the wrong time of year. So it was with some trepidation that we arrived in Kusatsu in Gunma. On a grander, slightly more Swiss scale, this is a very similar town. Healing waters ...
The Ice Monsters Cometh
In a mountain town in Yamagata, people go about their daily lives as if everything is normal. Men repair potholes; women linger in shops, waiting for customers; mile after mile of soba is served in little restaurants. No one seems worried by what’s to come, and yet they know – they must know – what ...