Blogs

The first cherry blossoms of 2009 have bloomed in Okinawa. Sakura! Sakura! Sakura ga saita!

Japanese convenience stores offer a wide variety of meals and snacks. Here are a few of the unfamiliar items I found in Japanese convenience stores.

BBC did an interesting video segment on unusual Japanese fashion called Ganguro:

Hostels in Nikko are becoming more and more popular with young people traveling to one of Japan's most famous tourist destinations.

Both of these Nikko Hostels are highly rated by guests:

• Narusawa Lodge
• Nikko Park Lodge

On my last afternoon in Nago, Okinawa (30 January 2008), I took more photos of sakura (cherry blossoms). Most of the photos below have larger versions that will load when you click the images.

Here are some photos of the parades from day 2 of the Nago Sakura Festival 2008. I've also included some photos of cherry blossoms from the Mount Yaedake Sakura Festival for color comparison. Some of the photos below have larger versions available that you can view by clicking on the photos.

I went to the Nago Sakura Festival in Okinawa, Japan today. The sakura (cherry blossoms) were not developed as far as they were on the Mount Yaedake Sakura Festival, but the walk up the mountain to the shrine was very interesting. Here are some photos:

Here are some photos of green tea and sakura ice cream from the cherry blossom festival in Nago, Okinawa.

Here are some photos from Mt Yaedake sakura festival in Japan 2008. These photos were taken on 24 January 2008 on Mount Yaedake, near Nago, Okinawa. Please subscribe to our RSS Feed to stay updated about more Japanese sakura festival photos, like the Nago Sakura Festival!

I've been in Okinawa for over a month and it is a lot cheaper than I had expected.