travel

By Sarah Noorbakhsh

There’s no better way to know Kyoto than to eat it.

An excursion to Kyoto would not be complete without the usual rounds: Kinkakuji, Kiyomizu, Heian Jingu. But if you’ve had your share of temple incense, try this one-day excursion around the ancient capital and experience the city through your stomach.

By Benjamin Brown

Although rural Japan has long been in decline, Hiroshima’s Onomichi is a hidden pearl in a rusting landscape.

By Sarah Norbakhsh

Good things come in little packages; the phrase is oft overused, but wine bar WW takes it for another spin with their electric oasis hidden in Tokyo’s Shin-Marunouchi Building.

By Sarah Noorbakhsh

For a crash-course in Swedish cuisine, Tokyoites can now turn to newly opened Aquavit Tokyo.

By Sarah Noorbakhsh -- Iconic resident of the Shinjuku skyline, the Park Hyatt Hotel is an unexpected destination for drinks in what may be one of the biggest watering holes in the city. A walk through the hotel is an experience in and of itself; marble floors and mirrored walls envelope visitors, making the walk to the elevators much like a stroll through a labyrinth.

By Hamish Macnamara -- While some of Tokyo’s “best-kept-secret” bars can be found stashed away down dark alleys and in basements, Tokyoites should occasionally turn their eyes towards the sky in search for that gem of a bar. These are prime places to get great views of the Tokyo skyline, but more often than not people head for the glitz and the glam found on the west side of the Yamanote line, in places like Shinjuku or Roppongi.

By Sarah Noorbakhsh -- Where is the best of Japan’s wine produced? -- Acres of vineyards await in Japan’s answer to Napa Valley -- Only about 200 kilometers from central Tokyo is a lush and green country that feels thousands of miles away in spirit. The region is auspiciously known as the fruit basket of Japan, a title hailing from the variety of produce farmed here. Lying contentedly in the shadow of Mt Fuji is Yamanashi Prefecture, a mountainous landscape cradling a basin that has been blessed with a relatively mild and dry climate.

By Peter Harris -- Davis Too is a restaurant of many pleasant surprises, tucked away off a Nishi-Shimbashi side street. -- Davis Too opened in 2005 and is the owner’s second eatery having started with her first restaurant, Davis, over in Takanawa. Both restaurants follow a “relaxed dining” concept but Davis Too, being in more of a business than residential area, is busier at lunchtimes and during the week. Snug and subtle, the simple décor of yellow walls and bare wooden tables is inviting, homely and intimate.

By Sarah Noorbakhsh -- The best dive this side of Izu -- I was thankful to finally step off the ferry and on to my destination. Not because I was eager to leave the Sarubia Maru, whose spacious quarters had been my home for the overnight voyage, but because I had been staring at Hachijo-jima in the distance for the past half hour and was impatient to see what awaited on this small island. We docked and I was met by the welcoming smile of Yoshiyuki Ooishi, long time island resident and dive shop owner. The weather had cleared up from the previous day’s rainstorm, and the blue sky peered down as we cut straight across the gourd-shaped island down palmlined roads. With mild westerly breezes, it was a perfect day for diving.

Seto-Ohashi bridgeBy Andrew Cockburn -- Surreal landscapes in Shikoku -- Stretching out on the deck of a ferry as it glides serenely across the Inland Sea, it seems as if spring has finally arrived. All around, the islands which the ferry passes on the way to its destination are blooming white and pink with plum and cherry blossoms. The temperature having finally risen enough for it to be a pleasure to be outside, it was time to take a break from the city and get away for a while to enjoy a bit of natural scenery and fresh air. For me, that means heading to Kagawa Prefecture, and getting out to the hundreds of islands that spread out across the sea between Shikoku and Honshu.