Kanazawa is a large city in Japan with a population of 500,000. Here is produced 99% of all gold leaf in the country. Hakukokan Gold Leaf Center Gold leaf is used for many ornamental purposes and some electronic uses. The process starts out with an ignot of gold which is flattened into a ribbon which…

On the way to the thatched roof cottage village in Shirakawago we encountered a lot of snow but by the time we got there it had stopped.     Shirakawago There are 114 of the thatch roof houses in the village which became a World Heritage site in 1995. These type of houses have existed…

Takayama is the largest prefecture capital city in Japan but is has the smallest population – 80,000. It is located up in the mountains which are now snow covered. It has been very cold here – in the 30’s in the morning and up to 45 in the afternoon. Snow is forecast for tomorrow. Today…

We took the bullet train from Hakone to Nagoya a distance of about 200 miles in just over an hour. The speed was 300 km/hr which is 180 mph. Inside of the train: The following are a few video clips of our ride: After the bullet train we took a much slower second train from…

Mt. Fuji is the most climbed mountain in the world. Every year over 100,000 people make the ascent. It is a volcano that is still active about every 300 years. 1707 was the last time it erupted. It is a tradition in Japan that one time in your life you must climb Mt. Fuji. It…

During the first few weeks of April Japan is covered with cherry blossoms. It first starts in the south and gradually works its way up north based on temperature. It is a national celebration and our tour group experienced it when we were in Tokyo. If the weather is nice (and it was this weekend)…

Dr. Margaret Barbee gave a very interesting lecture yesterday morning about the characteristics of Japanese art and culture that make it special and different from western art and culture. Often these words are used to describe Japanese art: RefinedGraceful NaturalBeauty Detailed Tranquil Pleasurable These are some terms that are used to describe certain kinds of…

Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) was the 122nd Emperor of Japan and was the great-grandfather of the current Emporer. Meiji laid the foundations of modern Japan by opening the country to the world and promoting friendship with other countries after Japan’s long isolation. The shrine is reached by a road through a Camphor tree forest which was…

Computer and printer written letters are not yourself. To understand this statement we went to a calligraphy and souboku studio for a demonstration by Koshun Masunaga, a master of the art. She first demonstrated Japanese calligraphy, the art of writing artistically with brush and pens. She helped several people in our group produce a calligraphy…

For the next 14 days this blog will post information about Japan especially Japanese plants and gardens. My tour started today in Tokyo and will go to Mt. Fuji, Hakone, Takayama, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and Miyajima Island. Japan is a very crowded country and Tokyo is a very crowded city. Japan has a population…