Updated July, 2008
Randy's Japan Links
Really Useful Websites for Japanophiles and Travelers
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Japanese Culture
Events in Japan!
...Annual Events in Kobe and Osaka.
- Upcoming July
Festivals...
- Nachi Himatsuri
Fire Festival Torch-lit procession of Shinto priests; Kumano
Nachi Shrine, Mt. Nachi, Nachi-Katsuura, Wakayama Prefecture. July 14.
- Soma
Nomaoi Wild Horse Festival Horse-catching and Horse
Racing events, all in ancient costumes on Hibari-ga-hara plain,
Haramachi, Fukushima Prefecture. July 23-25.
- Tenjin
Matsuri, festival in Osaka. Historical street parade followed
by a boat procession and fireworks. July 24-25. Osaka, Tenjinbashi and
Temmabashi
- Sumida
River Fireworks Traditional Fireworks
Display on the Sumida River, Tokyo. Last Saturday in July.
- Access the complete list of My Selected
Annual Events in Japan.
- Search
for Events
...for any month, in any area. This automated system from JNTO is not
perfect but a good start to find lists of hundreds of festivals!
- Traditional Theater Performances
-- July, 2008
- Check monthly Performance Schedules at the National Theatre and Kabuki-za.
The National Theater schedule covers a number of Theater Facilities, including
the Main Theater locations in Tokyo and the National
Bunraku (Puppet) Theater, in Osaka. Another nice Bunraku
Theater Site.
- Upcoming Theater Events:
- Kabuki at the National Theater (Tokyo) in July: 'Kabuki
Performance for Beginners': "Yoshitsune Senbonzakura",
July 3 to 24; 3 performances per day.
Schedule
- NO Bunraku at the National Theatre (Tokyo) in July
- July
Grand Kabuki Program, at the Kabuki-za! (Tokyo) July 7 to 31, 2008.
- The Kabuki-za celebrates its 120th year in 2008!
- Morning program includes: Yoshitsune
Senbonzakura, "Yoshitsune and the Thousand
Cherry Trees", and "Yoshinoyama".
- Evening program: A rare program of two fantasy plays by Izumi
Kyoka, staring Tamasaburo. The plays are: 'Yasha ga Ike'
and 'Koya Hijiri'.
- Full Program
- Bunraku at the Bunraku Theatre in Osaka:
July 19 to August 6, except 7/27.
Three programs:
- 11 am: 'Introduction to Bunraku' plus 'Saiyuki'.
- 2:30 pm: 'Gojunenki Utanebutsu' and 'Yari no Gonza Kasane Katabira'
- 6:30 pm: 'Kunikotoba Kudoki Ondo'
- Another source for Current Traditional Theater Programs at:
- Another listing of upcoming Kabuki performances all
around Japan at the 'Kabuki 21' website.
- Learn all about Kabuki at the 'Kabuki 21' website, including Synopses of most Kabuki Plays!
Another site for Performance Arts in Japan at the Performing Arts Network
Japan website.
Sumo
Wrestling Tournament Schedule;
Ticket
Info. From the Official
Grand Sumo English Home Page
Travel in Japan
-
Japan National Tourist
Organization (JNTO) Go! Tons of info!
It is a very large site so here are a number of quick references:
- JNTO Info
for Travelers Page, including visa requirements, climate, tours, and :
- A user-friendly Quick
Guide to Japanese Traditional Culture: Castles,
Tea Ceremony, Art, Temples, many more...
- A List of Welcome
Cards. Available throughout the country only to foreign tourists,
cards give discounts or free gifts at numerous locations. Many can be printed
out before you leave home, or obtained at Tokyo or Kyoto Tourism offices.
- Info on Free local Goodwill
Guides, including a list of Volunteer
Guide Associations in almost every part of Japan!
Most have e-mail and many have web sites detailing their services.
- Detailed Travel
Guides
(require Acrobat Reader 5
and
Japapese
Font Pack)
All the above links to ".PDF" files open a new window for large
.PDF document files
that will take some time to download. Or, just
right-click the link
and select "Save Link Target As..." to download the files
to your computer.
- JTB's Japan Now! Traveler's
Guide to experiencing Japan -- Food, Culture, Tours, Special Trains and Events.
Updated often.
- Japan Cheap Travel.com
is a personal site chock full of cheap travel info from the authors' recent 3 month journey through Japan. Practical, reasonable ideas for stretching your ¥Yen in Japan!
- Jan Dodd's excellent resources
from the author of the award-winning "Rough Guide to Japan"
- Tokyo Convention and
Visitors Bureau ...loads of Tokyo information for visitors.
- A list of Local
Day Passes, for transport in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka. More pass
info in My Japan Guide
- Locations of CitiBank ATM Machines
in Japan, where you can use your home ATM card to draw money out of your own account.
[Culture]
[Events]
[Travel]
[Rail/Bus]
[Tours]
[Lodging]
[Live/Work]
[Language]
[Media]
- A quick look at Bullet Train Routes!
- From the official Japan Railways Group
- Kansai (KIX)
and Narita (NRT)
International Airports' English pages... Flight info, maps, local transport.
- Instant train routing, schedule, & fare calculations for any
trip! A very useful site:
- Hyperdia Timetable
Just input departure & destination: it gives you multiple routes, times, prices;
+ access to complete timetables for each route.
- Long Distance Highway Buses!... now run frequently in the daytime
(as well as overnight), and can be a significantly cheaper
alternative on major routes from Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya,
Sapporo, Sendai, Takayama, Kanazawa, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka.
on various routes at
japan-guide.com; for the actual schedules you'd
have to follow the bus company links to their Japanese language sites and navigate.
- Several different companies now compete on many of these highway bus
routes, including the JR Bus; but note that only a
few of the JR Highway Buses are covered with the Japan Rail Pass.
-- See This link for details.
My own Guide to Riding the Trains in Japan,
in my on-line Japan Travel Guide.
Relax on the Ferry instead! My on-line travel pages on:
and
International Ferries To/From Japan
Japan Travel Bureau, JTB.
Other Package Tours To or In Japan
Lower-budget tours within Japan
First class escorted special interest tours within Japan by Destination Management Toursgallery
Kintetsu
(RR) Tours short tours within Japan.
JNTO's new: Search
for a Tour Package! to suit your interests and itenerary!
Find your own lodgings in Japan and make reservations by e-mail:
Homestay in Japan? Very little is available, (and I don't know these
places myself...) but try these links for Homestay services
in Chiba, &
Nara. Plus the Japanese
branch of the Experiment
in International Living.
[Culture]
[Events]
[Travel]
[Rail/Bus]
[Tours]
[Lodging]
[Live/Work]
[Language]
[Media]
Living and Working in Japan
-
Japan File
- Kansai Time Out
magazine's on-line Japan guide
-
Zone81 Info-zine for foreigners living in Japan.
-
Life in Japan Newsgroup ..(newsreader required)
- Tokyo Flat-Share Bulletin Board!
...updated daily. Follow the links on the right; some postings in English.
- GaijinPot
Has classified listings for everything in Japan: Jobs, Housing, Services
- Jobs In Japan Listings of all kinds...
- New resident? Visit Tokyu
Hands, the father of all Japanese do-it-yourself stores,
7 floors in Shibuya, Tokyo.
- Japanese
Site and links to stores in Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Futagotamagawa,
Machida, Fujisawa, Nagoya, Osaka (Esaka, Shinsaibashi), Kobe (Sannomiya),
Hiroshima, Sapporo.
-
International Outdoors Clubs for Residents of Japan
Members organize exciting outdoor activities that
explore the Japanese mountains and countryside; hiking, biking, skiing,
etc. Membership is about half Japanese and half ex-pats, living in Japan.
- Outdoor Japan
- Travel and activity guides, message boards, gear and
services, events...
- Want to Teach English in Japan?
- Want to Do Business in Japan?
The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan publishes
several good books including:
"A
Guide to Doing Business in Japan", "A
Guide to Exporting to Japan", and
"Living In Japan"
- US Embassy List
of Translation and other Office Services in Japan.
- JETRO, Japan External Trade Org.,
is the Japanese Government's liason for both export and import.
- Links to JETRO
Offices in U.S. and Canada, Europe
-- and more -- are a good source of info for doing business in, or exporting to
Japan. Lists 80 offices worldwide in 59 countries, many with websites
listing local Trade Shows, Seminars, Resources, etc.
Japanese Language
Japanese Media On-Line
-
English-language Magazines in Japan on-line:
-
Kansai Time Out,
Tokyo Journal,
Tokyo Weekender,
-
Tokyo 'Q',
Metropolis (Tokyo),
-
Kyushu News,
Fukuoka, Kyushu, City Guide,
Okinawa Times,
Japan Update (Okinawa)
-
Xene, Sapporo/Hokkaido
E-Zine & bulletin board is back!
-
English-language Newspapers in Japan on-line:
[Culture]
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World Travel Links on Randy's Travel Page.
Other Links on Randy's Home Page.
Dead Links!
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Link-Checking Program,
but if you find a link on this page which leads to an error,
please use the E-Mail button below to let me know of "dead links".
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travel tips, and a few photos from my 6 years On the Road,
mostly around the Third World.
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Randy's Japan Links Page -- all text Copyright ©
1995-2008, Randy R. Johnson.
