Adventures of Anette: Eventsinkanto

Showing posts with label Eventsinkanto. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Sagamihara: The First Reebok Spartan Race in Japan

Anette 10:22:00 PM

Last weekend it was time for Japan's first Reebok Spartan Race! The race is known as one of the world’s largest obstacle courses, and this time the event took place in the U.S. Army Sagami General Depot in Sagamihara, approximately 50 minutes by train from Shinjuku.

Sagamihara is a part of Kanagawa prefecture, an area most known for tourist destinations such as Yokohama and Hakone. Along with a group of friends we set out to Sagamihara to find our inner Spartans.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Tokyo

[Video] New Year's Eve in Tokyo: Shibuya Crossing Countdown 2016

Anette 9:07:00 PM

Shibuya has become increasingly popular for celebrating big events like Halloween and New Year's Eve, and this year I teamed up with some friends to join the crowd that was flocking to the Shibuya Crossing for a fun New Year countdown. I've added a video from the celebration below for those who might be interested:

This year will be another challenging one for me continuing my career as a businesswoman in Tokyo, and I would like to take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and successful 2017!

Related blogposts

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

Recommended Hotels in Tokyo

More Tokyo hotels

Robot Hotel - Henn na Hotel Maihama Tokyo Bay

Henn na Hotel
★★★★ → review

Bunka Hostel Tokyo
★★

Hundred Stay Tokyo
★★★★ → review

Kaisu Hostel
★

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Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
- Anette

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Yokohama

Yokohama: Christmas Market at the Red Brick Warehouse

Anette 11:21:00 PM

The Christmas season is upon us again, and even in Japan the cities are decorated for the season. In Japan Christmas is seen as a dating season more than anything else, and it is certainly a great chance to enjoy a romantic date with your love. During a recent visit to Yokohama, Japan's second largest city, my darling and I payed a visit to the Red Brick Warehouse where the German-style Christmas market helped getting us in the mood for Christmas.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Yokohama

Yokohama: Autumn Views at Sankeien Garden (三渓園)

Anette 5:35:00 PM

The Sankeien Garden is a traditional Japanese garden located in Yokohama's Naka Ward. The garden, which opened in 1906, was the creation of a wealthy businessman who used the space of the garden to reconstruct seventeen historical buildings brought from other cities such as Kyoto and Kamakura. Some areas of the garden are closed to the public during most of the year, but for a short period during the autumn you are permitted to enter these areas and enjoy the sight of the historical buildings here alongside with the autumn foliage.

Love hidden gems? Check out Onsen with Hansen — a channel where I uncover some of Japan’s most fascinating traditional ryokan inns.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Travel

Chiba: Winter Illumination at the Country Farm Tokyo German Village

Anette 10:14:00 PM

Just a couple of hours drive from Tokyo you can find the Tokyo German Village, an theme park that is inspired by.. You guessed it right; Germany of course. Don’t let the name of the park fool you though; this park is not really situated in Tokyo but on the Boso Peninsula, more precisely in a place called Sodegaura in Chiba. For those who didn't know, Chiba is Tokyo’s neighbouring prefecture to the east, and believe it or not this is also the prefecture where you can find Tokyo Disney Land...

Love hidden gems? Check out Onsen with Hansen — a channel where I uncover some of Japan’s most fascinating traditional ryokan inns.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Tokyo

Bon Odori Midsummer Festival in Ebisu (恵比寿駅前盆踊り)

Anette 12:33:00 AM

The rainy season has come to an end here in Japan, and it is finally time for summer (although as a Norwegian in Tokyo it has already been what I would describe as summer temperatures for the last 4 months already). This time of the year you can find a number of places arranging so-called Bon festival dances, and this weekend the Ebisu district in Shibuya is hosting their annual Bon Odori event.

Love hidden gems? Check out Onsen with Hansen — a channel where I uncover some of Japan’s most fascinating traditional ryokan inns.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Yamanashi Prefecture

Mt. Fuji & Sakura Viewing: Maruyama Kouen (丸山公園) and Iwadono Castle (岩殿城)

Anette 4:11:00 PM

From the Ootsuki Tourism Association

If you're visiting Japan during spring you’re probably keen to get a good look at the sakura, Japan's unofficial national flower. While the spots where you can view cherry blossoms in Tokyo usually are extremely crowded you can find many equally or more beautifully picturesque sakura spots in the areas close to the metropolis. And then again, as a tourist you might want to combine the view of the sakura with other things that are typical for Japan. If that is the case then I would recommend a trip to Yamanashi Prefecture to see Mt. Fuji from Mt. Iwadonosan.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Tokyo

Tokyo Cherry Blossom Spots: Nakameguro's Meguro River (目黒川)

Anette 3:30:00 PM

In Japan, the biggest sign that spring is on its way is the blooming of the cherry blossom, sakura. This is without a doubt Japan's most popular flower, and if you're in Japan you'll find yourself surrounded by products with cherry blossom design or even flavor (in most cases it's just wrapping with sakura design though). One of the popular places to see the pretty flowers is the Meguro-gawa River (目黒川) in Nakameguro.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Tochigi Prefecture

Sightseeing in Nikko: The Grand Autumn Festival Shuki Taisai (秋季大祭)

Anette 12:45:00 PM

Festival participants waiting for the parade to begin

If you're planning on a visit to Nikko you might want to time it so that you get to see one of the local festivals as well. There are many events held throughout the year, such as the Grand Autumn Festival, also known as Shūki Taisai (秋季大祭). This annual event is taking place on the 16th-17th of October, and it is a smaller version of the Grand Spring Festival (Shunki Reitaisai). During the festival you can among other things see the Parade of 1,000 Samurai Warriors (百物揃千人武者行列 Hyakumono-Zoroe Sennin Gyoretsu). In reality the parade consists of not 1000 but 800 men dressed up in various historical costumes.

The parade began outside the entrance to the Taishōgun, which is Nikko's most famous temple. It is inside this temple area where the famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu has his final resting place. This year the event was particular important, as it commemorates the 400 years since the death of the shogun, and as you can imagine the area was packed with people traveling from near and afar to enjoy the historical event.

I traveled to Nikko with my mother and stepfather to visit the famous temples here, and we timed it so that we could see parts of the big festival as well. Although we arrived in Nikko a bit later than planed we were extremely lucky with the timing. Because it had been raining slightly in the morning the festival was delayed with a couple of hours, which gave us just enough time to do some sightseeing at some of the minor temples before the actual festival began. We lined up by the entrance gate to the Taishōgun, and ended up getting a spectacular view of the parade from where we stood. Here are some of my pictures from the parade:

Toshogu Tourist Information

Name of Place	Toshogu Shrine (東照宮）
Address	〒321-1431 栃木県日光市山内２３０１ 2301 Sannai, Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture 321-1431
Admission	Tosho-gu Shrine tickets - ¥1,300 for adults, ¥450 for elementary and middle-school students
Business Hours	Open all year from 8:00 a.m._5:00 p.m. (closes at 4:00 p.m. in November through March) Note: Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time
Public Transit Access	Tobu-nikko Station → Tobu bus (for Chuzenji Onsen or Yumoto Onsen) (5 minutes) → Shinkyo Bridge bus stop → 10 minutes on foot * Or a 40-minute walk from Tobu-nikko Station.
Homepage	http://www.toshogu-koyoen.com/toshogu/ (Japanese） http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/toshogu/index.html (Nikko Tourist Association, English)

Recommended Hotels in Nikko

More Nikko Hotels

Nikko Station Hotel Classic

Iwaiyado Jyuan Ryokan

Kinugawa Onsen Hotel

Nikkorisou Backpackers

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Tokyo

Summer in Tokyo: Ultra Japan at Tokyo Odaiba!

Anette 2:35:00 PM

The outdoor electronic music festival Ultra had its first edition in Miami in 1999, but has since gained enormous popularity and spread all over the world to countries like Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Korea, South Africa, and Croatia. This year it was time for the first Ultra Japan held at Odaiba Ultra Park in Tokyo.

Norwegian, Japanese and Brazilian flag @ Ultra Japan

I had gotten myself a ticket along with a group of friends for the first day of the festival, and we met up at Odaiba all psyched up and ready for a whole day of partying already before noon. It seemed that a lot of people had gone out of their way to come up with fancy dress ideas and coordinated outfits, so there was a lot of interesting things to see.. We (especially Yuma and I), on the other hand, hadn't prepared that much.. Just brought some flags to represent our respective countries x)

Shaken-san ready with lemon essence..

Some of our friends were more prepared though. The picture above shows Shaken-san in a neon green Full Moon Party-T-shirt ready with a bottle of lemon essence. It wasn't of course not allowed to bring alcohol into the venture so we started the party on the lawn in front of the entrance to the main stage. Since the event was held from 10 am - 9 pm we had a lot of time, and it was quite alright to chill out on the lawn in the nice weather. Odaiba is also famous for its huge Gundam statue, which we happened to pass by a couple of times during the day.

Ultra Japan was held in Odaiba where you also can see a huge Gundam statue

At the lawn in front of the entrance to the main stage

Although it was nice to be able to go inside the venture during the evening I have to say that the first part of the day it was probably just as nice (perhaps even nicer) to stay outside on the lawn where it was less crowded and easier to talk with others. It was also kind of amusing to look at the people time to time walking by in really weird costumes.

Already quite a lot of ppl and it's only 2 pm or so

Slightly crowded in front of the stage....

The main stage

We were basically free to go out of and reenter the venue as often as we wanted thanks to the wristbands we got when we registered in the morning. So we did come and go a couple of times during the event (had to take some breaks at the lawn). Yuma and I tried to make it to the front of the stage one time during the afternoon, but it was simply too crowded. We did make it almost to the front of the main stage once though, but it was of course not a particularly comfortable experience haha.. Maybe I'm starting to get too old for these sort of things (or maybe it's just that I get more than enough crowdedness on the train every day when I commute to work here in Tokyo).

The main stage not too far ahead

Gathered at Ultra Japan

Another group picture outside the venture

At sunset

One thing I noticed during the evening was that the guy who presented the different DJs seemed a bit confused about the Japanese audience. He tried to make the crowd respond by saying things like "Tokyo, make some noice", "VIPs, let me hear you", "You are the best audience ever" etc etc, but the crowd was as quiet as a funeral. It was kind of amusing actually.. In the end all the guy could think of was "You guys are.. incredible.." (He probably was thinking something like "Why the hell are these people so f*ing quiet!!! I've never experienced a crowd like this in my entire life!"). The poor guy did his best to pump up the crowd, but he probably didn't know that it is common sense for people in Japan to listen quietly when official authorities etc make announcements. So the crowd probably didn't really know how to respond to him.. It was quite interesting to note these cultural differences.

A lively crowd, except during the announcements between the performances

Brazil @ Ultra Japan

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, especially during the last hour when a lot of people decided to leave the venue and we finally had some space to move around! I'm not sure if we'll get the chance to participate in Ultra Japan next year or not, but it was definitely cool that we had the chance to participate in the first Ultra Japan ever.