Chinkasai Fire Festival
Living in wooden houses, closely clustered together along narrow streets, for centuries, fear of calamitous fires is deeply ingrained in
Read moreLiving in wooden houses, closely clustered together along narrow streets, for centuries, fear of calamitous fires is deeply ingrained in
Read moreNew Year rituals at Gokoku Shrine, next to Hiroshima Castle.
Read moreWatch the firefighters display their skill, see their fire engines and helicopters in action.
Read moreHuge bonfires snap, crackle and pop around Hiroshima in the middle of January, sending the hope and dreams embodied in the past year’s votive goods and new year decorations up to the heavens.
Read moreMegahira is the nearest snow resort to Hiroshima city, is very family-friendly and has a big hot spring perfect for those who like to keep their pants on.
Read more“Oni wa Soto, Fuku wa Uchi” – images from a spectacle of demons and lucky beans at Hiroshima’s Gokoku-jinja.
Read moreSee out the old, ring in the new; Hiroshima style.
Read moreThe annual performance of Handel’s Messiah at Jogakuin High School is a rare chance to see a classical concert without charge. Child care is provided too!
Read moreChristmas is big in Japan. Kind of.
Read moreLarge scale illuminations have become a new winter tradition in Japan. Held all over the country, they certainly brighten up
Read moreLung-busting vertical race in the snow!
Read moreGoma Ritual burning of cedar sticks followed by fire walking. Members of the public set themselves up for a fortuitous
Read moreEvery winter, between November and April the Olympic-sized swimming pool at ‘Big Wave’ in Ushita is drained and transformed into
Read moreCreative and speed building divisions in this fun, but quite hard day at Osorakan Ski Resort. See pictures and read
Read moreAlthough temperatures in early February may make it hard to believe, Setsubun marks the coming of spring. On February 3,
Read more“The feast of seven herbs” is a day on which people in Japan customarily eat a healthy seven-herb rice porridge to ensure give the stomach a break from the indulgences of New Year.
Read moreGokoku Shrine’s annual tondo bonfire festival coincided with the biggest snowfall to hit the city in a generation.
Read moreThe “Snow Express” whisks you to and from the Mizuho Highland snow resort so you don’t have to stress about
Read moreThis tondo festival in Honkawa is a nice mix of shrine rite and neighborhood event.
Read moreThe annual “Flower and Light Pageant” illuminations at Hiroshima City Botanical Gardens are some the most Christmassy in the area.
Read moreEntries are now open for the annual World Igloo Building Championships at Osorakan to be held on February 5. More
Read moreMany people from surrounding neighborhoods gather at the riverside Sumiyoshi Shrine on the afternoon of February 3 to commemorate Setsubun.
Read more[Mizuho Highland is currently closed] Located just over the border in Shimane Prefecture in Ohnan, Mizuho Highland is one of
Read moreWith a total of around 700,000 colorful LEDs lighting up the natural setting of the expansive Bihoku Hillside Park in
Read moreArcadia Village is a good option for a reasonably-priced local overnight getaway or an hot spring day trip in the
Read moreOver 500 street stalls selling every imaginable kind of festival food, daruma dolls, a plant and shrub market, daruma dolls,
Read moreOni ni kanabou [鬼に金棒] is a Japanese saying which literally means giving an iron club [kanabou/金棒] to an ogre [oni/鬼],
Read moreThe question “Do you like Japan?” is one you’ll hear often…
Read moreHiroshima’s illumination extravaganza starts tonight when thousands of colored LEDs stretching about 2km in total length and fashioned into some
Read moreThe inaugural World Igloo Building Championships took place in unseasonably warm and sunny conditions last weekend at the Osorakan ski
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