3 am. Time to go to bed ? It could be so on regular vacation. But today, it was the time when we woke up! Why so early ? Because we wanted to go and have a look at Tsukiji Market. Best known in English as the "Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market", Tsukiji Market is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world and also one of the largest wholesale food markets of any kind. The market opened at 5am in Tokyo, so we had to leave Tsukuba at ...

Nothing special today, since we had to come back from Osaka to Tsukuba, before flying to Ishigaki the next day. We thus took the Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo, which was our last shinkansen journey with our JR pass :-( Hence, let's make this post a special Q&A on trains. 1) JR PASS We strongly recommend you get one if you intend to travel inside Japan. It can be bought only by tourists, and it is not sold in Japan, so you have to buy it in your co...

For our last day in Naoshima, after a delicious breakfast, we decided to rent bicycle (at the reception of the Hotel) and to go to Honmura, on the eastern part of the island, to enjoy the last attraction of the island: Art House Project. Old village houses are converted into art spaces showcasing Japanese and international artists. Combined ticket for 6 projects costs ¥1000. If you don't have enough time to get around all of them, you may chose to buy "one...

Naoshima is a tiny island, in the Seto Inland Sea, and is not (yet) as famous as the major touristic places in Japan. But it is definitely a must-go when one love art, architecture and Nature, and Naoshima is a tourist region selected as one of the 7 places in the world you must see in Traveler, a travel magazine in America. It is renowned for its collection of contemporary art galleries and exhibits. Naoshima is best known for the Benesse House complex, where...

You've all heard about it; we've tested it! The reputation of japanese toilets is true in the end: very modern, efficient and pleasant to use. You can find many different kinds of toilets everywhere in Japan, from the basic to the more complex ones. But all of them have one incredibly convenient feature: warm seat! So obvious when you've tested it that you wonder why this does not exist worldwide... Considering the other options you have, the ...