Travel to Japan

Canal City

Canal City  revolutionized the shopping and entertainment industry in Fukuoka. This multi-level complex basically has everything: dozens of brand-name stores and tiny shops, lots of restaurants, a multi-screen movie theatre, a Sega amusement theme park, two hotels, banking facilities, an art theatre, business offices, showrooms, and even regular street performers. In the Sun Plaza, situated in the center, some of the performances are by extremely talented professionals and may include acrobats...I wouldn't miss this ride if I were you, you will absolutly love it!

Villa Katsura

Functional-harmonious architectural style Katsura-rikyu a world famous Imperial Villa Katsura is located in the southwestern part of Kyoto. Many temples are dotted along the west bank of the gently winding Katsura-gawa River. Katsura-rikyu Imperial Villa was built in Katsura in the 17th century, as a country house for the Imperial Family. It took 35 years to complete the construction. There is the Shoin (study room) consisting of three buildings in sukiyazukuri style, the Koshoin, Chushoin and Shin-goten, which surround a pond created from the water of the Katsura-gawa River pouring into this vast premise with an area of 56,000 sq. meters. There is also a garden with a circular promenade and a tearoom, creating a harmonious beauty with the architecture. All have been preserved in their original style. It is believed that the imperial people of olden times viewed the moon from a moon viewing deck projecting out onto the water or from a boat floating on the pond and have enjoyed both a moon in the sky and a moon reflected in the water. Katsura-rikyu is known throughout the world since it was introduced in an overseas magazine by Bruno Taut, a German architect. He came to Japan and praised its beauty of sophisticated architecture harmonized with the water that surrounds them. There are many shrines and temples around the Katsura-rikyu area. The god of sake brewing at the Umenomiya-taisha and Matsuo-taisha shrines attracts many worshippers. Kegon-ji Temple is known for its suzumushi or "bell-ring" insects that chirp all year round, and Saiho-ji Temple is famous for its garden covered with beautiful mosses like a spreading out of green velvet.

Shinjuku

Shinjuku is a major district of Tokyo for work or play, with its west side seismically stable, reason enough for being Tokyo's skyscraper district. At Shinjuku's west side you will find the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices, a major office of Microsoft, and many other impressive skyscrapers. The east side of Shinjuku is devoted to shopping and nightlife, among many attractions you will find Tokyo's largest red-light district, Kabukicho, and gay nightlife central, Shinjuku ni-chome.

Universal Studios Japan

While the rides are really fun and the park always clean and well organized, the waits can be outrageously long (2 hours and 40 minutes for Spiderman to give you an example) and the Express Passes, an expensive addition that makes the waits much shorter, are usually sold out by 11am. Food it's also  more expensive than Disneyland. Having said that, the staff members at Universal Studios are very helpful and you are gonna have a really good time. Best rides...Spiderman and Jurassic Park.

National museum of Modern Art

The admission to this Museum will cost you zero on Sundays. At the entrance you will find very nice and helpfull people, and if you ask nicely enough you can have a stamp in your brochure. Good art featured, the set up is good. Start from the 4th floor and work your way down. Avoid the restaurant though the food is not that good. Enjoy!

Sushi and Sashimi

One of Japan's most famous culinary exports, in case you haven't tried Sushi and Sashimi yet, this is a great time to taste them! Sushi is raw fish over rice, and sashimi is plain raw fish, they seem a simple dish but are very hard to prepare properly. We can talk for hours about the different types of sushi, but the common types are 5, to make it easier when ordering. Nigiri is the canonical sushi form consisting of rice with fish pressed on top, maki is fish and rice rolled up in nori seaweed and cut into bite-size chunks, temaki is fish and rice rolled up in a big cone of nori, gunkan is like nigiri but with nori wrapped around the edge to contain the contents, and chirasi is a large bowl of vinegared rice with seafood scattered on top.

Sake

Sake is the traditional Japanese alcohol, brewed from rice using a process similar from beer making. It is usually clear, and can be served either hot, room-temperature, and sometimes chilled. Can't be in Japan and not try the variations of Sake!

Iya Valley

Iya Valley is one of Japan's Three Hidden Valleys, a mountain valley located deep in the heart of Shikoku island. The vine bridges are one of the main attractions, used once to cross the river, and you can explore and cross through this bridges, although I won't recommend it if you have a fear of heights. This is a great place for hiking, specially at the easter end, with many trails of different lengths and mapped out.

Dejima

Dejima was a fan shaped artifical island, located in Nagasaki, used as a Dutch trading post during the Edo period, from 1641 to 1853. It was constructed in 1634, to originally accomodate Portuguese merchants.In 1641 the shogunate ordered the transfer of the Dutch East India Company to this island.

Nagasaki Peace Park

Nagasaki Peace Park was established in 1955, near the hypocenter of the Atomic Bomb explosion in Nagasaki, it has a statue at its north end, the Peace Statue. This statue is 10m high and has its right hand pointing to the threat of nuclear weapons, and its left hand symbolizing eternal peace. In front of the statute we see a black marble vault which contains the names of the atomic bomb victims and survivors who died in subsequent years.