Ja(a)pan - Page 23 of 43 - A blog about Tokyo, traveling and yes, penguins

shopping study

19. December 2008 Mia Jaap kanji

Tripod Wonderland and Kanji tests

One thing I’m currently working on is a HD video podcast. I think this distribution form makes much sense because

lights tokyo

14. December 2008 Mia Jaap ebisu, illumination

Eternal Lights – Light Festival in Ebisu

Shinjuku set the bar for illumination events quite high (they had penguins!) so I travelled with great expectations to Ebisu

meetup movie tokyo

7. December 2008 Mia Jaap

Movie meet-up: Wall-E…

… or the “Citizen Kane” of animation films as one German TV magazine phrased it. Yes, Wall-E has probably been shown in about every country but in Japan they decided to premier in December.

study tokyo

7. December 2008 Mia Jaap JLPT

Entering Meiji University

Todai (Tokyo university) is soooo last year! For the fourth year in a row I’m taking the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) – two times in Germany (Duesseldorf, Berlin) and two times in Tokyo.

meetup study

6. December 2008 Mia Jaap JLPT, starbucks

Last study meet-up! And it could well be the last JLPT meet-up ever. While there are regularly new people registering for the meet-up at the Meetup.com website, it’s always the same people showing up.

Parks & Gardens tokyo

4. December 2008 Mia Jaap autumn, shinjuku-ku

Shinjuku Gyoen: Autumn colours in Shinjuku

Today I went to Shinjuku Gyoen, which is often recommended as a good place to watch cherry blossoms. Unsurprisingly, it’s also one of the best parks to see the autumn colours

Image showing autumn fall colours in the Heiwa no Mori Park

Parks & Gardens tokyo

3. December 2008 Mia Jaap autumn, nakano-ku

Heiwa no Mori park: Beautiful autumn colours

So far I have been to a lot of places to watch the autumn leaves but one place I haven’t visited so far is “Heiwa no Mori” (peaceful forest). Which is kind of weird considering it’s only a two minute walk from my apartment.

Parks & Gardens tokyo

1. December 2008 Mia Jaap autumn, inokashira, kichijoji

Autumn in Inokashira Park

Time for another re-visit: I’ve seen the cherry blossoms in Inokashira Park earlier this year so I had to see the autumn colours. Unfortunately, there wasn’t that much to see although the park is always worth a visit.

tokyo

30. November 2008 Mia Jaap harajuku

Octopussy 2

Makers of pachinko machines are no longer contend using manga/anime franchises such as “Evangelion” as a theme for their machines.

lights tokyo

29. November 2008 Mia Jaap illumination, penguins, shinjuku-ku

Shinjuku Southern Lights 2008: Penguins in Shinjuku!

Finally the people who create the Shinjuku Southern Lights saw the light – or rather the penguin: After visiting Rikugien

Parks & Gardens tokyo

29. November 2008 Mia Jaap autumn, illumination, rikugien

Rikugien Light-up Event

Yoyogi Park was great but the most spectacular sites are located at the “Light up” events. Some parks in Japan are doing this during the autumn leaves season and are open until 9 PM or later.