http://www.seekjapan.jp/on-japan Self seeking hedonist; lover of onsens; sake and the epicureal lifestyle in Japan. http://thesoulofjapan.blogspot.com/ GMT en-us http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2192/Top+Stops+Along+The+Akita+Shinkansen! http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2192/Top+Stops+Along+The+Akita+Shinkansen! Tue,28 Jul 2009 GMT My favorite stops along the Komachi takes you from Tokyo to Akita in about four hours!  Starting from Tokyo, the stations are as follows: Ueno, Omiya, Sendai, Morioka, Shizukuishi, Tazawako, Kakunodate, Omagari, and the final stop is Akita.  I have personally been to 9 of these stations myself.  So what's good and when is the best time to ride the Komachi.  I say spring, since it's that time of the year where cherry blossoms bloom.   Also, ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2190/Top+Stops+Along+The+Yamagata+Shinkansen http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2190/Top+Stops+Along+The+Yamagata+Shinkansen Tue,28 Jul 2009 GMT Copyrighted by Tony Alexander2009     The Tsubasa or Yamagata Shinkansen travels from Tokyo to Shinjo in 3 hrs. and 39 minutes.  Starting from Tokyo the stations are as follows: Ueno, Omiya, Utsunomiya, Koriyama, Fukushima, Yonezawa, Takahata, Akayu, Kaminoyama-Onsen, Yamagata, Tendo, Sakurambohigashine, Murayama, Oishida, and finally Shinjo.   There are several things I absolutely love about Yamagata:  great sake, delicious food, therapeutic ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2187/Top+Stops+Along+the+Joetsu+Shinkansen http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2187/Top+Stops+Along+the+Joetsu+Shinkansen Mon,27 Jul 2009 GMT Copyrighted at thesoulofjapan.blogspot.com by Tony Alexander   There are four trains that run from Tokyo to Niigata: Max Toki, Max Tanigawa, Toki, and the Tanigawa.  The total trip from both stations is about two hours.  The stations starting from Tokyo are as follows: Ueno,Omiya,Kumagaya, Honjowaseda, Takasaki, Jomo-Kogen,Echigo-Yuzawa, Urasa, Nagaoka, Tsubamesanjo, and the last stop Niigata!  Now, if you have a car and prefer to drive then I highly ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2186/Having+Coffee+With+Tojo+Hideki's+Caretaker! http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2186/Having+Coffee+With+Tojo+Hideki's+Caretaker! Sun,26 Jul 2009 GMT Tony Alexander at the Soul of Japan copyrighted 2009   Situated atop Mt.Sengane, at a remotely located shrine deep in Aichi, is one of three places where Hideki Tojo's ashes are scattered, along with seven other (so-called) war criminals. I visited this venerated site yesterday to have coffee with a good friend of mine who has been the caretaker of this site for nearly forty years.  I was met by him and his lovely wife and together we chatted it up over a nice cup of coffee ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2185/The+Tokugawa+Art+Museum http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2185/The+Tokugawa+Art+Museum Sat,25 Jul 2009 GMT I grew up hating museums because I saw no point in looking at meaningless objects uncased in  glass boxes.  A few decades ago, though, on vacation in Washington D.C., I visited the capital where I saw another object, but one of immense admiration which was also encased in a helium sealed glass box; that object was called The Bill of Rights.  Indeed I was impressed because in school I was taught so much about this document and then seeing it there right before my eyes ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2088/People+of+Osaka http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2088/People+of+Osaka Thu,28 May 2009 GMT Coyprighted2009@www.thesoulofjapan.blogspot.com Tony L. Alexander Leaving pleasant memories behind in Osaka I felt refreshed in knowing that there’re still Japanese who love being Japanese everyday; the ones who love Japanese sake(nihonshu), and who can also appreciate some Western influences, but while at the same time not get carried away with the obsession of being too Westernized for their own good.  I too may come off as obsessed, but believe me, I’ll take a ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2087/Chibo+of+Osaka! http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2087/Chibo+of+Osaka! Thu,28 May 2009 GMT For the record, anywhere you go in Osaka you can eat  delicious  okonomiyaki, but there’re some places that should be visited at least once while in Japan, and  Chibo is one of them. These delicious Japanese style savory pancakes, among the many favorite kinds of food in Japan, are an all time favorite for many locals and foreigners.  Two prefectures known for having the best okonomiyaki are Hiroshima and Osaka.  Hiroshima has layered ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2085/The+Dormy+Inn+Hotel+in+Shinsaibashi,+Osaka! http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2085/The+Dormy+Inn+Hotel+in+Shinsaibashi,+Osaka! Mon,25 May 2009 GMT The Soul of Japan The Dormy Inn Hotel in Shinsaibashi, Osaka is definitely the place to stay when visiting this city.  For me, one of the most important things a hotel can have are good amenities and services, like the 24 hrs open and indoor baths and sauna.   One nice feature about using the bath is that you have to use a code number in order to access the bathing area.    It’s a good feature because you know that ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2042/DEATH+OF+A+SOUL:+Westerner+men+and+Japanese+women http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2042/DEATH+OF+A+SOUL:+Westerner+men+and+Japanese+women Tue,7 Apr 2009 GMT The only analogy I could come up with to describe what I’m about to blog about are Darwin’s Finches. In nature the evolutionary cycle is amazing. Two finches of the same species with similar sized beaks existing in the same space can have a negative or a positive evolutionary affect on each other; in one instance one of the finch’s beaks shorten while the other one lengthens, and as a result of this both lose the ability to feed from the same food source – ... http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2006/Ski+Rescue http://www.seekjapan.jp/article/2006/Ski+Rescue Wed,4 Mar 2009 GMT This is a true story and one I’ll never forget.  My most recent trip to Zao was full of pleasant memories this time around, but I clearly remember two and half years ago, here at this same place, skiing for the first time, and drunk, I had a major accident.  The visibility at that time, and time of day was zero.     How I wound up getting into this situation was from sheer boredom.  I got tired of seeing my best ...