Bright Life! Bright Life!
White pythons dwelling in castles, monkey mountains and now… owls!? That trip to Beppu was certainly animal-orientated! On our way home from Beppu we stopped off in the small onsen town of Yufuin. This town is often preferred by travellers when compared to its...less...polished neighbour (but I prefer the raffishness of Beppu). For me, Yufuin [...]
It’s like laughing at something that looks funny from a distance, then having it run at you full force and realising that you were laughing at a giant fucking cave troll. COVID-19 wiggled into my consciousness at the end of January. Before then I was focused on going back to the UK for Christmas and [...]
A volcano, historical Japanese estate, sapphire blue ocean, UNESCO museum, a cute Starbucks…. Sengan-en has it all. I visited this feudal estate, built in 1658 by Shimadzu Mitsuisha of the Shimadzu clan, before Ste went back to the UK. It was recommended by my awesome friend and Kagoshima connoisseur, Lydia. Her recommendations are consistently brilliant [...]
Why is Totoro so popular? Is it Ghibli’s magically simplistic yet detailed anime style? The elegant soundtrack drawn from "Western classical, Japanese classical, and electropop-minimalism"? Is it the mesmerising weaving of Japanese culture with humour, entertainment and reverence? Or is it our fat, fluffy Totoro himself with his big ol’ smile? Whatever the reason, Totoro [...]
Monkeys, monkeys, monkeys, everywhere you look there are monkeys! Of course, I’m talking about Takasakiyama, Beppu’s famous monkey mountain; full to the brim with one of the most Instagrammable features of Japan- Japanese macaques. On my recent trip to Beppu, I decided to visit the park, after missing it during my first trip (apparently the [...]
The southernmost area of Kyushu's Kumamoto prefecture is full of history, nature, and culture. The history and culture pool of this area can be difficult to dive into, especially if you don’t live in the Kuma area or speak Japanese. Luckily for you guys, I do! Well… live there at least, and I’m happy to [...]
Kifune Castle was completed and crowned weirdest experience of my Beppu trip; so next up is my scariest, Beppu Ropeway. Just like the castle, you can see the ropeway from many places within the city and, unlike the castle, it’s very very high. Going to the ropeway was a last minute decision, made while eating [...]
The boisterous and bonkers Beppu called me back again and, like a sailor drawn by my siren`s watery call, I obliged. My first trip to the onsen city left me a little bit breathless, very much inspired and desperately searching for the right adjective; eventually arriving at `saturated` due to its applied polysemy. My second [...]
When you visit Kyoto city, Japan’s old capital, you won’t be short of things to see, especially when it comes to temples. You have Higashi Honganji, Nanzenji, Kiyomizu-dera to name a few, and the list of shrines is just as long. One temple that’s worth a visit, especially in Spring or Autumn, is Toji Temple [...]
As mentioned in my previous post my visit to HK took place in October. At this time the unrest taking place was a different level than the unrest that is occurring now. The violence has now moved into the Polytechnic University, in response to the death of a 22 year-old-student. I read about what happened [...]
AKARUI LIFESTYLE 