At Unique Japan Tours, we pride ourselves with discovering hidden gems in Japan before they gain mainstream popularity. When we design our itineraries, of course we usually create a balance between some well know and popular highlight destinations, but where other tour companies stop there with the cliche hotspots, we always try to use our […]
Washi is the light, strong traditional Japanese paper made by hand from the inner-bark fibers of three plants. The name washi literally means “Japanese paper”. Today most paper in Japan is made in large automated mills, but a few hundred families in rural villages continue to make washi in the traditional way. A washi paper-making workshop experience, in the countryside, taught by a family with […]
Japan is well known for its unique food culture and incredible selection of restaurants. In the 2021 Michelin Guide rankings, Tokyo is once again leading as the city with the most Michelin-starred restaurants, with over 212 listed in the Michelin directory in Tokyo alone and an incredible 413 different Michelin star ranked restaurants in Japan. […]
The sporting world is focused on Tokyo right now with the Tokyo Olympics 2020 finally taking place (albeit over a year late and under continued difficult circumstances). Japan has a history of hosting great sports events before with the 1964 Olympics, the 1972 and 1998 winter olympics, the 2002 Soccer world cup and the 2019 […]
Besides Mt Everest, Mt Fuji is probably the most well known and certainly the most easily recognisable mountain in the world. Unlike many mountains that form a peak in a range of mountains, Mt Fuji stands alone, a near perfect conical shape that appears to look almost the same from all sides. This is in […]
The road has been long and winding leading to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. 1 year late, massively over budget and going ahead despite ongoing worries about low vaccination rates, the games have lost the support of most of the Japanese public who think the timing is still not right. But as the clock ticks down, […]
There are various different vantage points from which to see Mt Fuji, but only on lake Ashinoko can you ride an old wooden pirate ship and be afforded incredible views of Mt Fuji from the comfort of the ship. Most people allow only 24 or max 48 hours in a resort with views on Mt […]
The below is an excerpt from one of our recent online travel webinars where we were joined by a guest speaker from Japan who happened to be a tourism expert in the Kii Peninsula. Kumano Kodo is an ancient network of pilgrimage trails located in Kii Mountain Range, south to Osaka in Kansai area. The […]
In this excerpt from our “Gardens & Galleries of Japan” Travel Webinar, our travel guide and Japanese gardening expert Saori tries to outline the differences in style and philosophy behind typical western and Japanese style gardens. In general Japanese garden tries to reflect the natural landscapes in the countryside, but the western garden cares less […]
In late 2020, we hosted a “Taste of Japan” travel webinar with a few special guests including Frank from Tokyo Ramen Tours. Interestingly enough, Ramen is a relatively new dish in Japan, being just over 100 years old. The big four type of ramen include soy sauce ramen, salt ramen, tonkotsu (pork bones) ramen and […]
