In verdant Miyagi, the yearly Lotus Festival of Lake Izunuma-Uchinuma has just begun! Located on an interconnected lake between Tome and Kurihara City, you can enjoy a romantic boat-ride tour through thousands of lotuses, led by local fishermen who know the lake inside and out.

Japanese summers may bring on the heat and humidity, but they also signal Japan’s love of the festive. Tokyo’s festivals cover the whole spectrum – from congenial goodwill ceremonies to fireworks extravaganzas, summertime in Tokyo is never a dull moment.

On my recent trip to Nara, I was lucky to visit Kinatei, a cosy vegetarian restaurant. The restaurant serves Japanese and Chinese style vegan dishes, and everything is homemade and organic. I got off at Kintetsu Line’s Nara Station and did a little sightseeing before coming, so the walk was a bit far.

Some of these varieties include: ceramic, glass, metal, bamboo, bronze, clay, crystal and so on. Kawasaki Daishi Temple, while not quite known to many tourists, has always beendedicated to the warding of evil through its ceremonies of purification, such as the Yakudoshi (unlucky or critical age in a person’s life), blessings of talismans and charms, burning rites during New Year, year-end cleaning ritual using long brooms, and others.

I checked on the internet if and where the most convenient beaches to go in Chiba Prefecture are and then Onjuku Beach caught my eye. Onjuku Beach is only a ten minute walk from Onjuku Station. The beach will welcome you with a big cactus tree saying “Amigo Onjuku”.

In keeping with the ancient custom, Yasukuni Shrine holds the yearly Mitama Festival around July 13-16 as part of the Obon festivities. Mitama refers to the spirit or soul of the dead. During this season, Japanese hang lanterns and place offerings at the altars as prayers for their ancestors’ spirits to be freed of their sufferings. Since 1947, the Mitama Festival has lightened up the Yasukuni Shrine grounds with more than 30,000 glittering lanterns or chochin.

Approximately 11km east from Nara Park, lies an ancient trail called Yagyu Kaido. This track once served as pilgrimage for mountain Buddhists, a form of mountain asceticism during the Nara and Heian period, therefore many historical sites, monuments, and ruins of the time remain here barely touched.

Softbank’s intelligent robot, Pepper and Honda’s humanoid robot, ASIMO are just two examples of Japan’s robot revolution that are known the world over. At first glance, Japan’s passion for robots may seem like a recent revolution, but did you know that Japan has been producing robots for hundreds of years?

Decora began as a unique fashion statement before rising to become one of Japan’s most popular subcultures. While present day, not as many people dress in Decora style as they did two decades ago, Decora fashion is now recognized as synonymous with Harajuku Street. So now let’s learn more about Decora shall we?

But rather than terrifying people as he did on screen, it is hoped Godzilla will help attract them. The actual 12 meter high replicated head, based on its appearance in Godzilla vs Mothra, stares down red eyed and roaring at the busy streets from a terrace on the 8th floor of Shinjuku Toho Building.

A lot of the big video game companies such as Nintendo and Sega originate from Japan and some of the finest gamers of all time come from Japan. Kansai sees a lot of visitors from all over, and some of those want a place to relax and game for a bit. This is a guide for those traveling to or living in Kansai and want to experience Japanese gaming culture at its finest.

Taking on the trial to using zero animal products in a bowl of ramen is an honorable mission, and Soranoiro NIPPON at the Tokyo Underground Street is one of such restaurants.