Learn Japanese Pod » travel

Tenjin Festival Osaka 2006

admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:41:59 +0000

What: Tenji Matsuri

When: 24th – 25th July

Getting there: Rail: Osaka-Temmangu Station on JR Tozai Line Subway: Minami-mori-machi Station on Tanimachi Line or Sakaisuji Line

I took this video of the Tenji festival in Osaka in 2006. It is one of the “big three” festivals in Japan and is an incredibly crowded but fun experience. The festival is held in late July and over a million people regularly attend each year. It has everything a good Japanese festival should have, stall food, games, people in Yukata and fireworks. There is also a procession of over 100 boats on the river which is an incredible site.

It has over 1000 years of history and is one of the main cultural events in Kansai. So if you are wondering what to do on your trip to Japan this is a must.

Bicycle Tour of Japan

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:44:51 +0000

Fun Friday for May 15th 2009

[podcast]http://media.libsyn.com/media/japanese/ff20090515.mp3[/podcast]

Directly download the Fun Friday MP3

On this week’s Fun Friday Podcast, I interviewed Stone River and Goldhorn, two friends of mine who have just completed a 1200km bicycle tour of Japan. Their trip started in Tokyo and took them up the east Coast of Japan to Sendai via route 6. From there they cycled north west over the mountains, through some amazing hot springs and eventually Akita. From there they took a ferry to Sapporo their final destination.

Judging by the silly smiles on their faces they had a great time when I met up with them in Tokyo after they had completed the trip. According to them it went very smoothly and people were very supportive and helpful along the way. Although they broke a few spokes they didn’t get a single flat tire during the entire trip. When Stone handed back my bike which I had given him for the trip I managed to get a flat within five minutes of riding home. Thanks Murphy

We will be adding more detailed information about their trip soon including diary entries, equipment, things to take or not and general advice for the dos and don’ts of doing cycling tours of Japan. In the mean time, here is a partial map of their progress on the tour.

The Grand Tour

View Stone’s Tokyo to Hokkaido bike tour in a larger map

Osaka hang outs

admin — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:23:27 +0000

Nostalgia has got the better of me so I made a map of some of my favorite hang outs in Osaka. These include bars, restaurants and possibly one of the best pizza restaurants in the whole of Osaka, well worth checking out. This is an ongoing project which I hope to be adding to regularly. If you have your own recommendations please add them to the map. Hopefully, it will end up as a resource for people looking for a fun night out in Osaka city.

View Osaka hangouts in a larger map

Stone’s Tour de Japan

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 04:02:35 +0000

I have two friends riding from Tokyo to Hokkaido over golden week and so I thought I would document their progress. One of them is “Stone River” from the forums and the other is “Goldhorn” as they have asked me to use their handles…bless. So I’ve made a google map to illustrate their progress with pics and information for anyone interesed and for those who might be considering a similar trip.

Here’s some information:

Equipment:

Goldhorn’s bike: Specialized rock hopper with rack mount for bags

Stone’s bike: “A piece of c### bridgestone” which he bought for not much. It has a rack mount too which is making more trouble that it is worth.

They also have a tent as they’ll be camping along the way. They started out from Akihabara on Tuesday night and have been following route 6 into Ibaraki. They’re following the coast and should be hitting south Sendai prefecture sometime tonight.

Here is the google map I have made of their progress so far.

View Stone’s Tokyo to Hokkaido bike tour in a larger map