Arima Onsen Hot Spa

(Arima Spar from the bridge) (Gold Hot Water)  Arima Spa in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture is one of the oldest and best hot spring spars in Japan along with Dogo Onsen Spar in Ehime and Shirahama Onsen in Wakayama. Arima is not far away from Osaka but it's only one-hour bus-ride from Umeda, northern center of Osaka.  It's known as an oasis of Osaka which is visited by 1.6 million people a year. People go around spars ...

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Visit to Fushimi Sake Brewery

 Sake making began about two thousand years ago when rice planting was introduced to Japan. Fushimi is one of the biggest sake producing areas in Japan. (sake container tank) (Kitagawa Honten Brewery)   When Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a military ruler in the late 16th century built Fushimi Castle and Fushimi castle town, there was a great demand of sake so sake industry flourished so much. Many sake breweries such as Gekkeikan and Kizakura ...

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food display making

(deep fried shrimps)   (ham and lettuce) (yellow tail in the making) I joined a food sample workshop last weekend. The name of the food sample company is Morino Sample in Hirano Ward, Osaka. Mold is made from silicon. Was used to be used to make a mold but not any more.   (a father cooking with his kids)    Food sample display is commonly seen at restaurants in Japan. It may take ten minutes in foreign countries ...

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Gardens in green

(bamboo grove in Tenryuji) Bamboo grove is something very Japanese. Bamboo groves are seen in Arashiyama, western part of Kyoto City. When the breeze blows, we can hear the refreshing rustle of bamboo leaves. (Taizoin) The Taizo-in Garden in Myoshinji is one of the best gardens in Kyoto. It's comparatively a new garden which was laid out in 1966. This garden uses the optical illusion and looks long from front to back. Seasonal flowers bloom ...

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New Year charms

This is a bamboo rake and a charm for raking in good fortune sold at shrines during new year holidays. Seven deities of good fortune drawn from Buddhistm, Shinto and Taoist traditions are on board a treasure ship. These deities are believed to give people longevity, talent of music and art and prosperity in business. It’s a popular custom for the Japanese to visit temples and shrines of these seven deities.   Egg plant, hawk and Mt. ...

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New Year display

Happy New Year! Akemashite Omedetou! (bamboo arrangement is displayed at Kyoto Station )  Christmas displays at department stores, grocery stores and stations are changed to New Year displays over the night. The change is so sudden but through.Various colored chrysanthemums, plum branches are put into bamboo stems and put on red carpet and places in front of gold screen. Gold and red are regarded as happy color representing lighthearted ...

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