Shimmer Shine Sojourn

 Shibuya is a major commercial and cultural district in Shibuya City, one of Tokyo’s 23 special wards. Centered around Shibuya Station, the area is best known for Shibuya Scramble Crossing and its busy streets, fashion stores, restaurants, cafes and entertainment venues. Large shopping complexes stand alongside smaller side streets, making Shibuya a popular place to experience the energy of modern Tokyo. I visited Shibuya with my family in September. The sky was grey, and a light rain was falling as a storm approached Tokyo. The weather made the city feel a little gloomy, but the streets around Shibuya Crossing had a very different energy. People kept moving through the rain, and the area stayed busy. Shibuya Crossing beneath a grey September sky. A busy street of signs, shops and passing pedestrians. I spent almost a full day there. I had no detailed plan and was not looking to spend much time shopping. I simply walked around the famous crossing and the nearby side streets. Along ...

 I visited Tokyo DisneySea mainly because I wanted the kids to have a fun day out. Personally, I've never been particularly enthusiastic about theme parks, especially the idea of standing in line for hours for a ride that might last only a few minutes. Still, Tokyo DisneySea is one of Japan's most famous theme parks, and I thought it was a place worth experiencing at least once with the family. A first glimpse of Tokyo DisneySea, where a grand sailing ship, waterfront buildings, and Mount Prometheus bring an imaginary world to life. Located within Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, just outside Tokyo, DisneySea opened in 2001 and is the only Disney park in the world inspired by stories and legends of the sea. Unlike Tokyo Disneyland, DisneySea features eight themed areas, each designed as a different world, from Mediterranean harbors and early 20th-century American streets to the fantasy settings of Arabian Coast and Fantasy Springs. The park combines attractions...

 Arashiyama, in western Kyoto, is best known for its bamboo grove, a green tunnel that most visitors walk through slowly, camera in hand. This post is about what comes just after it: a short stretch of path beside the river, where the crowds thin out and the town begins to feel lived in. I walked it in January, as the day was ending, with a cold I had not prepared for. It is not a famous sight, and it takes only a few minutes. Yet it is the stretch I keep thinking about. It was a very short walk. I had not planned it, and I had not read about it beforehand. I simply stepped out of the bamboo grove at the end of a long day, and the light was already leaving. Out of the Bamboo Behind me, the bamboo stood in its green dimness. Ahead there were fewer trees, a little more room, and a few more people moving along the road. The air was colder than I had expected. Small lanterns beside the path were just beginning to glow, and everything had a faint blue edge, as if the day were being slow...