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samurai in modern america

beyond the samurai diaries

Visit Japan

Visit Japan posts from Japan, gathered on Discoveries.

Independence Day (14) Thank You, America (18) Questions for America (64) Visit Japan (41) Japanese Manners (45) Japan, Explained (71) Japanese Food (32) Promo & Links (9) American Grit (78) UK, What’s Going On? (16) Japan Speaks Up (17) World Cup (1)

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Shimanami Kaido: Cycling 43 Miles Across Six Islands

Just the Facts: Japan's Safety, Literacy, and Clean Tap Water

Most visitors arrive in Japan with a list: temples, sushi, neon nights.

Tokyo in August: Vending Machines and Convenience Store Sanctuaries

To those considering moving to Japan, let me be honest with you.

In Japan, you can drink the tap water.

A papercraft samurai turning aside a hail of bullets with his blade

The America diaries are here

The wandering samurai diaries

Harvard University called it a miracle.

A Mountain Hut 10,000 Feet Up in the Northern Japanese Alps

In Japan, the public restroom is free,

For a few weeks every spring, a hillside in Japan turns the exact color of the sky.

Even without pandas, Japan’s got red pandas that are like 100 times cuter. https://t.co/uShcZQTqHe

In the far west of Japan, there’s a bridge that looks photoshopped. It isn’t.

Japan destroys its most sacred shrine every 20 years.

Many countries are tourist destinations.

Help me understand something, because to me this feels essential and I cannot tell if the rest of th…

Once a day, for about half an hour, a quiet beach in Japan turns into a perfect mirror.

Take a fifteen-minute ferry from Hiroshima and an island of rabbits will come running to greet you.

Japan has a sandbar so perfect people bend over backward just to see it right.

You wanted to be a ninja when you were eight. Japan never stopped taking that seriously.

Most waterfalls, you admire from the front.

Japan has a desert — and it sits right beside the Sea of Japan.

People say Japan should become “more normal.”

There is a place in Japan where wild monkeys soak in hot springs while snow falls on their heads.

For about two weeks in late April, two tunnels turn into waterfalls of flowers.

Most countries build hot springs.

Wait — this water is so clear it has its own name in Japanese.

In Japan you can pay a monk to hit you with a stick, and tourists are lining up for it.

In winter, you can walk on the frozen ocean off the coast of Hokkaido.

For about two weeks a year, a mountain pond slowly opens a giant blue eye.

There’s a little train station in Japan with no ticket gate and no shops — just a wooden bench, and …

There’s a bridge in Japan so blue it looks painted into the sea — and you can drive across it for fr…

About four dollars.

Okay so I have to tell you about this.

Imagine walking 750 meters into a mountain — and coming out somewhere that feels like a dream.

In Japan, when you travel…

There’s a town in Japan where every house keeps a boat on the ground floor — the way yours keeps a c…

Wait — that whole bridge is woven from vines, and they rebuild it by hand every three years.

Everyone thinks a sumo wrestler is just a big guy who eats a lot. Watch one morning of practice and …

Wait — that’s not the sky.

Japan has an entire train station

Once a day, for about half an hour, a quiet beach turns into a perfect mirror.

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The fingerprints vanish. The steel looks new. Fox Run cloth · Cream

8 little weapons. The board looks intentional. Ironwood charcuterie set

White ceramic. Fruit looks like a still life. Fox Run berry baskets

The crock that makes the counter look decided. Fox Run utensil crock

4K at 60. The whole desk, one stick. Blush. Satechi hub · Blush

Vertical. Your wrist stops paying for the work. AOC mouse · Black

The mic they forget is there. The voice they remember. BOYA mic

Fingerprint. Phone. The key is you. TCL lock