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Ōsaka Blues
Ōsaka (大阪) was the 20th stop on our round-the-world adventure. By the time we reached it, I hit a wall. Was it Ōsaka that I disliked? Had I been on the road for too long? Perhaps I was suffering from a severe case of FOMA: the fear that there was a better, more exciting place […]
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Onsen
Onsen (温泉) in Japanese means “hot source.” The hot comes from the volcanoes across the country. Volcanoes generate geothermic energy which heats natural springs. The Japanese have flocked to hot spring baths for more than a thousand years. Today, onsen attract visitors from all over the world. When my husband and I visited Japan in […]
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In the Shōgun’s footsteps
James Clavell’s novel Shōgun came out when I was in high school. In 1980, the made-for-TV mini-series version aired in the US. It starred Richard Chamberlain as the English pilot John Blackthorne and Yoko Shimada as his Japanese intepreter Mariko. It’s embarrassing to admit but I think Shōgun sparked my lifelong fascination with Japan. That […]