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Let there be light
They shimmer. They shine. They sparkle. They dance. They wink. And yeah, they blink. I’m talking about lights. Lots of lights. Fantastic lights: Massive displays of holiday lights in downtown Tokyo and...
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Furusato Matsuri serves up cuteness and beauty
Last weekend, Liam and I got an eyeful of both the cute and beautiful aspects of Japanese culture when we attended Furusato Matsuri, a massive festival at the Tokyo Dome. The Furusato Matsuri is an...
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Lunching in style for the New Year
What happens when you ask a group of Japanese ladies to host a New Year’s luncheon for a group of American ladies? Beautiful stuff happens, that’s what. Beautiful food. Beautiful dancing. Beautiful...
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Sledding at Mr. Fuji for Valentine’s Day
St. Valentine met Mt. Fuji for our holiday this year when we took a day trip to Fujiten Snow Resort, which sits at the base of Mt. Fuji. I’m a lucky girl: I spent my Valentine’s Day playing in the snow...
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Meet the snow monkeys of Nagano
Dear Tales from Tokyo Readers: Let’s take a little field trip away from Tokyo this week. I want to share our outing this past Saturday to see a whole lot of cute monkeys. You with me? For many people,...
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The cherry blossoms are blooming
We’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting since we arrived last July. Through the heat of summer. Through the icy winds of winter. We’ve been promised again and again and again: Wait. Be patient....
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A matter of perspective: Tokyo Skytree
Since we arrived in Tokyo last summer, I’ve seen quite a bit of the city from the ground, trotting alongside a few thousand of my closest friends on city sidewalks. I’ve also watched it roll by, from a...
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Showa Kinen park is bursting with beautiful flowers
Before I moved to Japan, I assumed the Japanese sense of beauty involved mainly subtlety. Very simple flower arrangements. Artfully cut bonsai trees. Temples with clean lines and strong silhouettes....
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Journey to Nagano and the seventh year festival
There’s no lack of places to visit in Tokyo, but sometimes, we just have to get away. For Memorial Day weekend, our family of three rode a bullet train north through the countryside of Japan so we...
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A rainy weekend in Shimoda
My little guy and I took our first trip to a Japanese beach last weekend. Our big guy really wanted to come, too, but it wasn’t meant to be. My husband was required – very last minute — to attend a...
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A summer festival and samurai parade
Recently, we were guided by train, fed and watered, dressed and gifted with traditional Japanese garb, photographed, and encouraged to enjoy a parade, a festival and fireworks. Wil and Liam were even...
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Whirlwind trip back to the U.S.
We just returned from a whirlwind visit to Connecticut, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Two weeks. Seven airports. Five beds. Not ideal, but it was worth it to squeeze in time with as many friends and family as...
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Fall hike suggestion: Mt. Mitake
It’s happening again. The air is getting crisp. The sky is a clear blue. And trees are starting their transformation from plain green to vibrant red, orange and gold. In Japan, last year’s autumn...
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Tokyo sightseeing itinerary
In November, my 77-year-old father from Ohio came to visit for 17 days. My challenge: Where to take him? It wasn’t easy narrowing down our destinations to a reasonable itinerary but it helped that we...
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Take a Coca-Cola factory tour
I recently took a factory tour of the Tama Plant of Coca-Cola East Japan. My culture club travelled together to the plant, located in Higashikuru, in a little over an hour via two trains and a bus....
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A cross-cultural afternoon
One of the best things I’ve learned since moving to Japan is the power of saying yes. Attend a festival? Yes. Try some new food? Yes. Try on a kimono? Yes. Make an origami rose, play a round of bingo...
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Showa Kinen Flower Show 2016
Spring time means flowers, flowers and more flowers in Japan. On Saturday, knowing it would probably be the last nice day to see the cherry blossoms in full glory, I took my 6-year-old son for an...
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Take a beach break in Kamakura
What do you get when you mix a giant Buddha, a volcanic beach and a Fourth of July holiday? An excellent weekend away, that’s what. We celebrated our American independence by booking ourselves into a...
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A night at the Robot Restaurant
Let’s talk about the Robot Restaurant, a tourist attraction that has gathered many of the intensely Japanese elements of Tokyo and rolled them up into a tightly packed ball that explodes nightly into...
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