Notes from the Archipelago - a Japanese Autumn 秋 2019 Monday 18th November 11月18日..........月曜........ ....................do I keep returning to this countr...

Notes from the Archipelago - a Japanese Autumn 秋 2019 Sunday 17th November 11月17日..........日曜日 Looking at Tokyo from one of its high observation points, lik...

Notes from the Archipelago - a Japanese Autumn 秋 2019 Saturday 16th November 11月16日 土曜日.......... A nice sunny Saturday morning should start with a leisur...

Notes from the Archipelago - a Japanese Autumn 秋 2019 Friday 15th November 11月15日金曜日 High up above the town of Nikko, at well over 1200 metres, is Lake Chū...

Tuesday 12th November 11月12 火曜日 / Thursday 14th November 11月14日木曜日 In British India, the colonial rulers developed areas in the Himalayas called hill resorts...

Cats, Showbiz and Art Deco Sunday 10th November 11月10日 (日曜日) / Monday 11th November 11月11日月曜日 Let me introduce you to Kuro 黒 chan. She is 22, can hardly get...

A wind band, a glut of French Impressionism and a Pacific view...... Saturday 9th November 11月9日 (土曜日) Do you know those novels where the writer starts playi...

I have never considered November as a time of year to take a break. It is generally a gloomy, cold month. Autumn has said goodbye, and the shops are already ...

Saturday (土曜日) 6th April and Sunday (日曜日) 7th April 2019 I think the sign of a good trip is that when it's time to return home, you are really can't bear the...

Friday 金曜日 5th April My host serves me breakfast at my table overlooking the wide ocean horizon. I am about 200 km south west of Tokyo, but it feels like ...

Thursday 木曜日 4th April Time to leave the environs of Mount Fuji and head down south to the Izu Peninsular (IZU半島) . This is not actually very far as the crow...

Wednesday 水曜日 3rd April 2019 Cycling under the shadow of Fuji-san (Mount Fuji) can be quite cool in April, so imagine my delight at finding a restaurant serv...

Monday (月曜日) 2nd April There is a mantra that you will often come across in tourist brochures about Japan. It goes something like this: “…the views are wonde...

Sunday (日曜日) 1st April “…It’s a unique concert, starts at 11am. You need to bring an apron, a triangle bandage, and a hand towel ......I will be playing some...

A Japanese Spring Sunday (日曜日) 31st March l It’s fun having friends in Eastern places. I should be thankful I live in near a cosmopolitan city like Frankfurt...

Japanese Spring 2019 Saturday (土曜日) 30th March Peter Maxwell-Davies, Jo Kondo, Oliver Knussen, Rafael Nassif, Michael Jarrell, Ge...

Japanese Spring 2019 Friday (金曜日) 29th March At last I have cracked the logistics of leaving Yokohama station to get into town. You do not just walk out ...

Japanese Spring 2019 Thursday (木曜日) 28th March Today is cloudy (Kumori 曇). I decide spend it in Tokyo. There is one garden I would like to visit – the Riku...

Japanese Spring 2019 Wednesday (水曜日) 27th March It’s always nice revisiting old haunts, so I decided to stay in Yokohama today. The sun was out and a fresh ...

Tuesday (火曜日) 26th March - Tokyo Imperial Gardens My first full day in Japan, and I’ve already taken the train into Tokyo from Yokohama (about 30 mins). I'm ...