In 1601, soon after he came into power, the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu started to build five routes connecting the capital of Edo (modern day Tokyo), with the other provinces. These routes were essential for the success of the Sankin-Kotai system, where lords would have to alternate years of living in Edo with their home provinces. […]
Knowledge
Gardens of Japan – Kenrokuen Garden
Kenrokuen Garden is a magnificent garden located in Kanazawa. Renowned throughout Japan as one of the country’s Three Great Gardens, Kenrokuen means “Garden Combining Six Features”, referring to the spaciousness, seclusion, artificiality, antiquity, broad views and abundant water throughout the garden. Tea house seen from across a lake in Kenrokuen Garden.Source: JNTO The garden is […]
Autumn Foods in Japan
Autumn is one of our favourite seasons to eat in Japan. Sanma, the long, sleek fish (pacific saury in English), grilled with salt. The crisp skin cracks under the pressure from your chop stick, and you come away with this delicious, moist, dark piece of fish meat that tastes right in every way. Grilled sanma, […]
New Japan Discovered Autumn Date
Unique Japan Tours have just launched a New Autumn date for their most popular Small Group Tour to Japan (Japan Discovered), starting on October 28th. This will be the perfect time to see some of the best Japan has to offer, including Osaka, Koyasan, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Gokayama, Takayama, Matsumoto, Snow monkey park in the hills […]
Autumn in Japan
After the heat of the summer months, autumn offers a welcome respite to the Japanese. There are a few popular axioms, shokuyoku no aki, dokusho no aki and finally supotsu no aki. They basically mean autumn is for eating, reading and exercise respectively. Autumn leaves at Nanzen-ji Kyoto.Source: https://flic.kr/p/dyVJ1W Why would you go to Japan in […]
Friday Roundup: March 20, 2015
Welcome to the third edition of the Unique Japan Tours Friday Round Up. The purpose of this post is to collect in one place the best things we’ve shared on social media during the week. Follow us on Twitter,Facebook, Google+ and Instagram to get great Japan content from around the web we think is worth reading!This week’s postings have mostly been concerned […]
Friday Roundup: March 13, 2015
Welcome to the second edition of the Unique Japan Tours Friday Round Up. The purpose of this post is to collect in one place the best things we’ve shared on social media during the week. Follow us on Twitter,Facebook, Google+ and Instagram to get great Japan content from around the web we think is worth reading!This week marked the anniversary of the […]
Friday Roundup: March 6, 2015
Welcome to the first edition of the Unique Japan Tours Friday Round Up. The purpose of this post is to collect in one place the best things we’ve shared on social media during the week. Social media? Yeah, we use Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram. Follow us on any one of those platforms to get […]
Interactive Tokyo Map: The Best Tokyo Sightseeing Spots
Tokyo is the capital of Japan and one of the largest metropolises in the world. If you’re visiting Japan, you’re likely to fly into this magnificent city. We often recommend to our clients that they spend a few days in Tokyo, and explore the city as much as possible. There’s so many places to […]
Sue in Japan: Follow our client
We love sharing stories of our clients with you. Usually, these stories take the form of a testimonial, sent to us after the tour is completed. But this time we have something different for you! One of our clients, Sue, came by the office today to pick up her travel pack. The travel pack is […]