If you’re in the Tokyo area, and are carrying an IC card, I’ve got a Tokyo rail travel hack for you. (I mention Tokyo because I am most familiar with it. This hack may exist in other Japanese cities.) Firstly, if you’re not sure what an IC card is, I will help out. IC cards […]
Japan
Japanese Sewer Cover Trading Cards. Seriously.
Japan might be the ultimate country for hobbyists. It’s a place where the brilliant train system attracts photographers amateur and densha otaku alike, limited-edition Kit Kats are misnomers, and vending machines sell everything from raw fish to bouquets. Yet, perhaps the most unusual things to come out of Japan in the last decade are sewer […]
Tokyo Weekend Trips: Nagano Prefecture
In this installment of No Work All Travel, I will be introducing a Tokyo weekend trip to Nagano prefecture. More specifically, a voyage to the castle city of Matsumoto, and Daio Wasabi Farm, in Hotaka. The first recorded instance of wasabi, sushi’s hot-headed colleague, dates back to the year 981, during the Heian period of […]
Kurume Tonkotsu Ramen
In 2016, I visited the city of Kurume, Japan, located in the southwestern island of Kyushu. The city is notable for two major contributions to the Japanese economy: Bridgestone, the world’s largest tire and rubber company, and Kurume tonkotsu ramen, the “parent” of Hakata-style ramen. I guess that’s why the noodles were so chewy. Vocab […]
Trip Report: Japan Railways (JR) Seishun 18 Ticket
I’m writing today to tell you about another Japan Railways “rail pass,” in particular about my recent experiences using the Seishun 18 Ticket (青春18きっぷ). As for why there have been some Japan-related posts lately, well– I’ve been in Tokyo for a couple of weeks. What is the Seishun 18 Ticket? In short, the Seishun 18 […]
Japan Trip Report: JR East Pass (Tohoku Area)
Although I’ve traveled throughout much of Japan, I embarrassingly didn’t once set foot in the Tohoku region until a few days ago. That’s where the rail pass, the JR East Pass (Tohoku Area), was of tremendous benefit. Firstly, let’s define the Tohoku region (in Japanese, 東北 touhoku, meaning northeastern): The Tohoku region is generally characterized […]
Sapporo, Japan’s Miso Ramen (味噌ラーメン)
In addition to Japan’s most well-known home-grown soup, miso soup, there have historically been others – houtou, with pumpkin, mushrooms, and meat, and miso nikomi made in a clay pot – that employ both noodles and miso, or fermented soybeans. Miso is beneficial for immune and digestive support, and has a fair amount of protein, […]
Next Month, Japan Is Eliminating All COVID-19 Restrictions
Japan eliminates all COVID-19 restrictions … that has nice ring to it. Especially after all of those months of waiting in vain for the country to open (i.e. to reciprocate). And then seeing it open to badly planned tour groups. And then this: Yep, that was back in September 2022. I was able to get […]