Armed with flashlights, we did a scary hike this weekend that followed the tracks of an abandoned railroad, right through the mountains and with several long, dark and creepy tunnels! It was a very exciting trip, and beautiful too since the old tracks follow a wild river that flows through a green valley. The railroad [...]

    We didn’t climb mount Fuji, but we did hike to the top of Takaosan, a slightly smaller but also beautiful little mountain in the outskirts of Tokyo!   Japan’s steepest train tracks took us to halfway up the mountain from where we walked all the way to the top.     The view [...]

I went urban exploring in Japan for the first time. Urban exploration is the exploration of man-made structures, usually abandoned ruins or not usually seen components of the man-made environment. This is very exciting and not entirely legal, which makes it even more exciting. I was invited by Ikumi, a very experienced urban explorer. Check out her [...]

Yes! It’s autumn again and that means an explosion of bright red leaves! Today I went with some friends to Minoo, a lovely place in the mountains north of Osaka, and a famous momiji viewing spot (momiji being the bright red leaves). It was amazing! These photos have not been altered, these were the actual [...]

Yay this weekend was my birthday and I had a wonderful time! Lucky it was ” Health and Sports Day ”  here in Japan so I had an extra free day to enjoy. Last year I celebrated my birthday in a real traditional Japanese way by dressing up like a Maiko, this year I wanted [...]

This weekend was holiday-time, since monday was de day of the elderly and all of Japan had a day off! Jurgen, Carlijn and Ward came to Osaka and  together we went on a daytrip to Kobe! Kobe is not so far from Osaka (about 30 minute trainride) and it’s a lovely town with a big [...]

Summer in Japan always means lights; whether it’s amazing fireworks shows or lanterns floating on a river. This weekend, the park around Osaka castle was lit up with thousands of small lanterns. You could buy your own lantern and place it in beautiful patterns on the fields around the castle. There was live music and [...]

It’s been a month since I moved to Osaka, time flies! So many things happened, I moved to my own apartment, started a new job and became an aunt! In the meantime summer kicked in, and that means temperatures of above 35 degrees during the day (and it does not cool down at night). Almost [...]

A couple of days ago I arrived in Osaka, which is completely different from Tokyo! Osaka is a harbour town, the people are more rough but also friendly and open. Also, Osaka is not nearly so big as Tokyo, so I can basically go everywhere by foot. That’s pretty nice since  the public transportation costs [...]

This will be the last post I’ll write from our lovely house in Kyoto! Tomorrow we are going back to the Netherlands. However, there is a big big chance we’ll return to Japan this summer :-p So it’s not really goodbye! March is the month of Plum blossom! Just as beautiful as the cherry blossoms! [...]

Dotonbori is a huge shopping/eating/drinking/partying area in Osaka. At night, the thousands of neon lights are lit and hundreds of people are walking around looking for a place to eat. Restaurants make the most elaborate signs on their walls to hopefully stand out amidst the neon craziness. Hmmmm where shall we eat… Maybe some takoyaki? [...]

Since we both finished our projects, we have some time to travel around! So, we went to Osaka Aquarium! Osaka Aquarium is a huge building filled with bigger and smaller tanks that hold the most magnificent seacreatures. You start at the top floor and walk your way down through the different aquaria. Here are some [...]

We don’t update this blog very often, mostly because we post on Facebook as well SBut I will try to post those messages here too! We’ve been busy the last couple of weeks, mostly with our school projects, but also learning Japanese and working on our own art projects. Here is some art we made [...]