After a 10 month absence, I recently returned to Japan. The entry into Japan during the COVID pandemic was much, much different than in the past. The trip actually started in February, two months prior to my travels. Immediately after getting my vaccinations and purchasing my airfare, the next stop was Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs...Read More
March 11 marks the 10th anniversary of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. Just like I will always remember where I was on 11/22/1963 (JFK assassination), 9/11/2001 and 1/6/2021, I will always remember where I was on 3/11/2011. I was with a tour group on the southern island of Kyushu, which is about as far away...Read More
Samurai Tours December Newsletter 2020 We strongly believe that Japanese food is the most underrated aspect of travel to Japan. Most people think Japanese people only eat sushi, but nothing could be further from the truth. A challenge is the lack of Japanese ingredients that is not commonly available outside of Japan. And boy, do...Read More
Food Specialties in Northern Japan We are going to list a few of our favorite food specialties in northern Japan. This is by no means a complete list. Because there are so many, there is no way to list all of the food specialties in northern Japan. We are going to break down the list...Read More
Japan enjoyed something of a travel boom in the late Edo Period (1603-1868). This was no doubt a key impetus behind the famous ukiyo-e landscape series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” created by Katsushika Hokusai around 1830, depicting the beauty of the iconic mountain from a variety of locations. A short while later, Utagawa Hiroshige...Read More
You may be familiar with Hachiko as his story was made into a Hollywood movie in 2009 called ‘Hachi: A Dog’s Tale’ which starred Richard Gere. Hachi was a stray dog. A professor of Tokyo University found this abandoned dog and took him home. Over a period of time, he formed an unbreakable bond with Hachi....Read More
Tsukemono – Common pickle dishes The following are some of the more common types of tsukemono (Japanese pickles) that travelers are likely to encounter. Most tsukemono can be found nationwide, except where noted, however the exact ingredients of each tsukemono type may vary from region to region and household to household. Umeboshi Umeboshi are Japanese...Read More
Godzilla Did you know the original Godzilla (“ゴジラ” Gojira in Japanese), was made as an anti-nuclear protest film? In 1954, a Japanese fishing boat inadvertently strayed into the U.S. H-bomb testing range of the Bikini Atoll. The crew aboard were subsequently irradiated, with one dying of radiation poisoning. With the memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...Read More
Arima Onsen Arima Onsen is one of the most well known and popular onsen in Japan. It is one of Japan’s oldest onsen. In the ancient era, the mythology is said that ancient gods found Arima Onsen. According to mythology, three injured crows bathed in the spring water in Arima, and were completely cured. Japan’s...Read More
Tonkatsu (豚カツ, とんかつ or トンカツ) consists of a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet. The pig’s back center is cut into 2-3 centimeter thick slices, coated with panko (bread crumbs), fried in oil, and then served with Japanese Worcestershire sauce, rice, and vegetable salad (usually chopped cabbage). The two main types are fillet and roast or loin....Read More
