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Years ago, on a trip to Florence, Italy, a friend and I find ourselves at a restaurant known for its “blueberry steak.” If that sounds like a strange combination of flavors, it certainly is. I imagine a scenario in which the chef’s husband spills a jar of blueberries on a freshly-grilled t-bone sitting on their […]

I never really knew our neighbor, Mrs. Jarvis, when I was growing up. Although I was occasionally friendly with her son, Ricky, his mother was essentially a mystery to me. Until Halloween night, that is, when she would deck herself out as an evil, cackling witch, stir the bubbling contents of a giant cauldron, and […]

I recently delivered a Powerpoint presentation at my local Toastmasters club about the three things that always stand out for me when traveling in Japan, namely: 1) Over-the-top Customer Service 2) Stunning Natural Beauty 3) Deliciously-Baffling Mysteries All of these things I experienced in spades on my recent trip to Hokkaido, most particularly at two […]

To receive the honor of visiting the Shiretoko Goko (Five Lakes) in Northeast Hokkaido, you need to follow a process. First you buy an admission ticket from a machine for 250 yen (~ $2). Next you fill out a registration form. Finally, you attend a 15-minute briefing session, geared towards disseminating proper trail behavior – […]

I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty three times: once in New York (on Liberty Island), once in Paris (on the Île aux Cygnes, an artificial island in the Seine River) and once in Tokyo (on Odaiba Island). What a strange, disorienting experience it is, seeing a landmark from one place suddenly transplanted to a completely […]

Am I the only one who wonders why Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco is such a boring place? I mean, here you have one of the most famous chocolate brands in the world, Ghirardelli Chocolate, but where’s the fanciful factory? The Oompa Loompas? The lickable wallpaper? What could have been a magical, Willy Wonka experience, […]

Don’t get me wrong: Otaru, Japan is not Fisherman’s Wharf, Time’s Square, or Niagara Falls. But it’s cut from the same cloth. It’s a town that I was prepared to adore. A port city on Hokkaido (Japan’s northernmost island), Otaru sits on a bay about 90 minutes northwest of Sapporo. One of the first towns […]

I don’t generally go in much for “historical re-creations.” I mean, sure, it’s great that historians preserve old buildings from around a country, then bring them together in one location. But then what? Given my druthers, I’d probably choose a movie set (like Hobbiton in New Zealand) to a historical recreation site. At least on […]

There aren’t many beers in the world named after the city where they were created. About the only other one I can think of is Shiner, a beer brewed in Shiner, Texas. Thus, when I heard that Sapporo Beer, the oldest in Japan, has been fermenting in its namesake town for 150 years, I needed […]

Over 30 years ago, I’m living in the rural town of Shimonoseki, Japan, finishing up my evening jog around the nearby rice paddies. As I round the last corner, my course parallels the bullet train tracks, high above and to my right. Suddenly I hear a whooshing sound and look up. Sparks sizzle off the […]