Shichi-go-san is a festival celebrated by parents on the fifteenth of November in Japan, to mark the growth of their children as they turn three, five and seven years of age.  Shichi-go-san literally means “seven, five and three”. These ages are considered critical in a child’s life. Particularly, at the age of seven, a young [...]

Art of Bonsai in Japan is renowned in the world. Bonsai is an art that features miniature plants and trees in containers. Cultivating this art is not easy as the real challenge lies in making the plants look as beautiful and appealing as those growing in the wild. The Bonsai artists of Japan have taken [...]

Emperor Kammu was born in 737 as the crown prince of Emperor Konin and ascended to the throne in 781 as the 50th Emperor of Japan. Realizing that the capital of Heijo was small in scale and beneath the dignity of our country, Emperor Kammu transfered the capital to Nagaoka in the province of Yamashiro [...]

Kinkaku-ji is located in Kinkakuji-chô, Kita-ku, in the northwester corner of Kyoto. It is a beautiful area, with the mountains Kinugasayama to the west and Hidari Daimonjiyama behind it. The range of mountains running along the northern part of Kyoto is known as Kitayama, but the area around Kinkaku-ji is sometimes referred to as Hokuzan, [...]

  Officially known simply as Jingū or “The Shrine”, Ise Jingū is in fact a shrine complex composed of a large number of Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, Naikū (内宮) and Gekū(外宮).”The Inner Shrine, Naikū (also officially known as “Kotaijingu”), is located in the town of Uji-tachi, south of central Ise City, and [...]