Mansouan: The Secret Awamori Cellar and Playground to Learn Handcrafts

Hidden in the forest in Tenniya district, Nago, there is a shop named Mansouan (蔓草庵). Seibin-san, who is a former-director of the museum of Nago-city, built the shop literally by himself. Inside the shop is a HUGE collection of bottles of awamori, the Okinawan traditional rice liquor.

Oyama, Tateyama (2009)

So it's throwback Thursday! I don't remember what exactly brought me there, but at the sophomore year of college I made a decision to take a summer job at a shrine (雄山神社 at 立山, 富山) that let me live on a top of a scarily beautiful Mt. Tateyama for good one month, and experienced unforgettable moments for life.  I found the photos of my stay on my facebook album that I posted on 2009. My photography skill back then wasn't so great, and actually many of the photos were not even taken by myself, but thanks to factbook's 'download album' feature I decided to re-post them on my blog so that I (and others!) will see them more often. 

Sakagura: Visiting a Local Sake Brewery

A several minutes walk away from Koga (古河) station, Ibaraki-prefecture, there is a local sake brewery called Aoki-shuzo (青木酒造). This sake brewery, called “Saka-gura (酒蔵)” in Japanese, has a long history starting from 1831, and is still providing the finest awarded-winning sake to the local community and across Japan. 

Dawn from "my room"

Probably I have seen this scenery many times as I grew up in this house for like 18 years, but when I see it now, after having left home like 7 years ago, it feels sort of special.

A place in Tokyo that used to be my neighbourhood

Naga-ya (a "long house") in Kiyosumi-shirakawa

Okinawa Photos #2: Food, Road Trip and All

This is a photo of a sugarcane field, reminded me of a famous folk song "Satoukibi Batake" (literally means "a sugarcane field" in Japanese)-- a remembrance of WW2 in Okinawa.

More photos of the rest of my trip in Okinawa. Mostly food & the road trip!

Okinawa Photos #1: Beaches

This super-blue ocean-- I will remember this scenery for the rest of my life.

Tama the Cat

Our grumpy kitten. She is the boss of our family of four humans and two dogs.

Random Japan Photos-- Mostly Food

Okay, to start off, this is a photo of a lady frying tempuras at Marukame-seimen, my beloved udon shop. lol

Hometown

My mom's daily walkie road. I really love the way my x100's lens capture the colors in nature. I did not do any photoshoppimg on this photo.

Izakaya: My Favorite Way to Enjoy a Friday Night

Since I have a job in the US, I only visit my home country a.k.a Japan once or twice a year. Every time I am there, I have a list of several things I must do, and hanging out with my Tokyo friends at an izakaya is one of the most important and pleasing things that I cannot miss. Tonight I hit an old and cheap yet very popular izakaya with one of my best friends and it was very satisfying... as always.

Minpaku: Experiencing the Local Life in Okinawa

Have you ever wished to experience the traditional Japanese culture? Or, are you a travel enthusiastic who finds pleasure in experiencing the local lifestyle in foreign countries? … If yes, you might find "minpaku" interesting.