Mia Jaap, Author at Ja(a)pan

27. August 2012 Mia Jaap karaoke

Karaoke Meet-up Tokyo

Sometimes meet-ups groups wake up from their year-long slumber, such as the Karaoke Group. The meet-up venue was Karaoke no Tetsujin in Shinjuku, a karaoke chain that offers various rooms, including big ones for company parties.

journeys in japan temples and shrines

22. August 2012 Mia Jaap fireworks, ibaraki, ushiku

Ushiku: Great Buddha and Fireworks

Talking about Japanese towns with great Buddha statues, one would likely mention Nara or Kamakura. But the Ushiku Daibutsu dwarves

journeys in japan

20. August 2012 Mia Jaap ibaraki, mito

Mito

Stop two on my Ibaraki trip was Mito. Mito is most well known for Kairakuen Garden, ranked as one of Japan’s three best landscape gardens. This park is even served by a seasonal train station during plum blossoming season. But what else does Mito have to offer?

Parks & Gardens

20. August 2012 Mia Jaap ibaraki

Hitachi Seaside Park

I started my day trip to Ibaraki Prefecture with a visit to the Hitachi Seaside Park. Depending on the season,

eating out tokyo

18. August 2012 Mia Jaap oktoberfest, shinjuku-ku

Oktoberfest 2012 in Shinjuku, Tokyo

Honestly, I’ve stopped counting how many Oktoberfests were held around Tokyo alone, let alone Japan. An Oktoberfest held in a

event tokyo

17. August 2012 Mia Jaap harajuku, pride parade, yoyogi

Save the Pride

Pride parades by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) are common in the west and have been held in Tokyo since 1994. There were no parades held in the years 2008, 2009 and 2011, due to a dispute between organisers.