As I came to find out on my most recent trip to the Hida region, the gassho-zukuri villages of Gokayama and Shirakawa and the old quarter of Takayama are not the only anachronistic hamlets hidden amongst this area's numerous mountains and valleys.
Check out three cool spots that we discovered on our last trip to Takayama, including a local sake brewery with a chic restaurant, a fantastic new history and art museum (which is also fantastically free!), and a recreation of a mid-20th century Japanese townscape.
Behind me, I could hear the train departing. About four-and-a-half hours earlier, I had set out from bustling Tokyo Station. Now, I was virtually the only person at the ticket gate. This was fortunate as I struggled to coax my suitcase through the turnstile; the burgeoning bag bouncing off the barriers like a bowling ball down a bumper-clad lane.
Next February the strongest wrestlers will gather in Tokyo for a special event that occurs only once a year. The 36th Grand Sumo Tournament, a special single-elimination event, will be held on February 5, 2012. There will be no room for error and no rest for the winners, as the victor from each match will face opponent after opponent, with elimination awaiting even a single defeat in this survival-style tournament. In a major departure from other events, the elimination tournament will take place entirely in one day, as opposed to 15 days for the Emperor's Cup tournaments. This will allow fans to track their favorite wrestlers as they compete again and again, all the way to the top!
JAPANiCAN.com has five (5) pairs of tickets for February's special elimination tournament, and we're giving them away to JAPANiCAN.com customers!