The Tokyo Traveler

How hard is it really to learn Japanese? is a great article with a little bit of history of the language and it’s origins.

Reuters lists Top 10 “weird activities” around the world features the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Wine Spa in Hakone, Japan at number eight. Yep, you read it right, the spa website says that bathing in wine is a rejuvenation treatment for the body, and that the Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra loved to bath in wine.

Traditional court music or gagaku, literally “gracious music,” which the Japanese claim as the oldest surviving orchestral music in the world, continues to survive due to the Emperor’s patronage and has a history dating back more that a thousand years. (Listen with Windows Media Player)

Ruth, from Let’s Visit Asia, discovered a luxury tour of Japan that looks amazing. It’s not cheap but the itinerary is worth a look.

Check out the Tokyo Food File via The Japan Times website for reviews of local restaurants. I’ve added this site to the blogroll so the latest reviews will never be more that a click away.

The art of creating the edible looking plastic food samples that can be found at nearly every restaurant in Japan. So what do you think? Is the typical Japanese lunch set in the picture below below real or plastic? Photo Credit: Personal Collection