...I'll be honest, 'Little Edo' in Kawagoe wasn't what I expected. The English version of the promotional website says: "...Take a stroll through the town in a kimono and you'll feel as if you've trav...

My first painting of 2010, and maybe the most detailed one I've ever done. My goal for this year is to focus less on quantity, and more on detail, something which a lot of my previous paintings lacked...

Surrounded by other adult-themed entertainment venues, it's hard to imagine what would've caused the Queen Chateau Soapland to fall by the wayside, certainly not a lack of customers or bankruptcy, as ...

Japanese cake, so delicious, so exquisite looking, so finely crafted... and so light it will blow away in a gentle breeze. Excuse me all cake shops and cake makers in Japan, where does one go if one i...

Nikko is perhaps THE most popular weekend or daytrip destination for Tokyoites, with only Hakone and Kamakura being able to rival it in popularity. The main draw of Nikko is Toshogu Shrine, a beautifu...

Finally having some free time, I decided to get out and have a look (and take some photos of course) at how the construction of the new Tokyo Tower (named the 'Tokyo Sky Tree') is coming along, then h...

Upon polling a bunch of Japanese people (my students) about the best time to go to Kanazawa, the almost unanimous answer was 'in the winter'. The main draw apparently is the famous Kenrokuen park, whi...

Another photography related post! Sorry if you feel I've been inundating you with these recently, but due to being extremely busy with other stuff, plus a strong desire to improve my photography skill...

...I was totally unprepared for what awaited me when I got to Meiji Shrine however. I expected it to be full of colourful kimono wearing girls in every direction, but what I got was a massive horde of...

Wanting to take my photography to the next level I asked Santa for an SB600 (strobe) for Christmas and he kindly delivered (thanks Kumi!). Having one in hand doesn't mean knowing how to use it however...

What do you do when your breath is too minty fresh? That's the problem that the Meiji candy company put to its scientists recently, and they've finally delivered with cola flavoured gummi mints. To fi...

My last painting of 2009, which was also a commission. Thank you Su Young!>>ORIGINAL...

First sunrise of the new decade from Isosaki shrine in Oarai, Ibaraki prefecture. Happy 2010 everyone!>>ORIGINAL...

Have you seen this painting? According to the owner of the restaurant/gallery (the Pink Cow in Harajuku) where my art work was recently hanging, a mysterious person (albeit with great taste in art) en...

Well it's been a productive year of reviewing weird products here in Japan, but it's time to clean all the extras out of my fridge and off my desk in preparation for 2010. However instead of having a ...

My life isn't all fun and games, sometimes I have to work, and as much as I'd like to sleep until noon every day, my job sometimes calls me to duty at ungodly hours in the morning. Take for example my...

I've been striving for realism in my portrait paintings for a long time now, but in the back of my mind was the (subconsious?) thought that in this day and age, a painting should set out, first and fo...

Two things to mention in this post. First the contest! Thanks to everyone for your creativity and effort, but in the end my favourite was Caterina's poem. Here it is again if you haven't read it yet: ...

The Japanese term 'haikyo' (meaning ruins) implies a certain amount of weathering, age, and decrepitude; some have more than their fair share, but others have almost none at all. So new looking was th...

...the first thing I did when I arrived was head to the most remote of the 5 lakes, lake Motosu. A couple of reasons for this, first of all, 'remote' generally equals 'good' in my opinion as the farth...