The Tokyo Traveler

Curry and rice is one of the most common dishes eaten in Japanese homes today and is considered a perfect comfort food.
It is said that the first Japanese person tasted curry on board a ship on its way to the United States in 1871. The following year a recipe for curry was published in a “Guide to Western Cuisine”. This came at a time when the Japanese were eagerly trying to absorb western culture but curry was considered a gourmet dish as it was very expensive due to the fact that the curry powder used to make theses …read more

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The word Geisha literally translates to “arts person” or “one trained in arts” (gei = art, sha = person) and Maiko translates to “dancing child” (mai = dance, ko = child).

A Geisha is a woman trained in the traditional arts of Japan which include dance, song and the playing of musical instruments. A Meiko is an apprentice Geisha who must train for approximately 5 years to be able to be considered a full fledged Geisha.
Geisha are paid entertainers but are not prostitutes as is commonly assumed in the west. This misunderstanding seems to stem from the post World …read more

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Eating out can be a bit intimidating in Tokyo. If you can’t read Kanji then you may think that you are out of luck and will need to find a friend who can speak and read Japanese. That’s rarely the case as most restaurants offer menus with photos of the dishes served. So all you have to do is find something that looks appetizing and point!
If a picture menu is not available there are often plastic replicas of the food served in the front window and if all else fails you can take your waiter or waitress …read more

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The Tanuki or Raccoon dog is famous in Japan as a symbol of protection from fire and theft and is said to be able to help businesses flourish. They are also know as very mischievous and fun loving creatures and as a result you will often find statues of them outside bars and restaurants. Some people even have them at the entrance to their homes for protection.
The formal name for the Tanuki is Otanuki-sama which translates to “Sir Raccoon Dog” and the origin on the name dates back to 1872 when a steward at the Sensoji Temple in …read more

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Staring on March 28th and running through April the 15th you can get your fill of art in Tokyo during Marunouchi Art Weeks. The three week event will be staged at eleven galleries and the group has prepared a walking tour to make it easier for visitors to get around the area.
Some of the highlights of the event include an exhibition of 45 works chosen from graduation exhibitions of major Japanese art colleges at Art Award Tokyo and Art Fair Tokyo 2008 which is Japan’s largest trade show selling works from over 108 galleries.
The exhibition that I am most …read more

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Asakusa is known for it’s old town atmosphere and historic Buddhist temples. It’s a fun area to explore and the center of most of the activity is around the centuries old Asakusa Kannon Temple, or Sensoji.

The first thing that you notice when you get to Asakusa is the Kaminarimon Gate. Take a moment to wander around the gate itself to check out all of the ornamentation and then pass through it and your will be on the Nakamise, a quaint shopping area that leads to the Sensoji itself.

Make sure you take some time to explore the various shops on the …read more

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My Japanese skills are very limited but it I have always found that a smile, a few words, pointing and a lot of patience get me through most situations.  A few phrases will really come in handy should you ever visit Japan so with that that in mind I here are some basic greetings:
Japanese (English phonetic pronunciation) – Translation
Ohayou gozaimasu (OH-HI-O GO-ZI-MAS) – Good morning
Kon’nichiwa (KO-NI-CHI-WA) – Good afternoon
Kon’banwa  (KONE-BAN-WA) – Good evening
Oyasumi nasai (O-YA-SU-MI NA-SIGH) – Good night
Sayounara (SIGH-O-NA-RA) – Good-bye
Lastly, here’s one that isn’t included on the top of many lists but one that I think is very …read more

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The unit of Japanese currency is the Yen. Coins are available in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen and bank notes in denominations of 1,000, 2,000 (rarely seen), 5,000 and 10,000 yen.
The conversion rate for the past few weeks has ranged from 100 to 114. What does this mean? It means that for every one U.S. dollar exchanged you will receive between 100 and 114 yen. That means that Y10,000 is the equivalent of about $93-100 USD. With numbers like those everything looks expensive in Japan!
Imagine telling your friends in the …read more

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Most international flights arrive at Narita International Airport which is located approximately 60 kilometers from the city.
Flight times vary due to the time of the year but can ranges from 8 ½ hours (From Honolulu) to 14 hours (from New York). On top of the flight you also have to deal with the time difference and the resulting jet-lag. Tokyo is ahead of Honolulu by 19 hours and New York by 14 hours.
Once you arrive and get through customs you can arrange to have your luggage shipped to your hotel or residence for between Y1690 and …read more

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Tokyo is the capital of Japan but that wasn’t always the case and the city wasn’t always known as Tokyo either. Over 400 years ago the city was named Edo and the capital of Japan was Kyoto (capital city). Edo stared as a village in 1603 and was the center of the government and culture with a population of over a million people by the end of the 18th century. In 1868 the city was renamed Tokyo (eastern capital) and succeeded Kyoto as the capital of Japan.
Interesting Facts:

The image on the right is the Kanji (Japanese script) …read more

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