30 September 2007
Meiji shrine visit
2007 Oct 06 Filed in: travel
This weekend I am off to visit another of Tokyo’s major historic sites, the Meiji Shrine (jg, wp). Along with the Sensoji in Asakusa, this is a major sight and should not be missed. full story ...
Yoyogi park
2007 Oct 06 Filed in: parks
Yoyogi park in a very large park in the western part of central Tokyo. In itself it does not stand out for its botany or landscape but it is one of the largest green spaces in Tokyo. Many Tokyoites, make the most of this park on Sundays to play sports practice music, dance or martial arts. If you are lucky you may see some Elvis impressionists on Sunday afternoons here.full story ...
Asakusa visit
2007 Oct 02 Filed in: travel
For my first day I decided to go back to one of the places I liked a lot during my previous visit to Japan in 2005, the Sensoji temple in Asakusa. Located in the north-east part of Tokyo, it is one of Tokyo’s top attractions (jg, wp). full story ...
Landing in Japan
2007 Oct 01 Filed in: general
On October 1st, I landed in Japan. I am going to live
and work here, exploring the country in my free time.
Fuchu, conveniently located in the greater Tokyo area
will be my base camp. In this blog I want to share
some of my impressions and thoughts as well as give
some travel tips for other visitors.
As tourist getting to Japan should not be very difficult. You should check with the Japanese embassy of your respective country to see what your visa requirements are. For citizens of most countries, a visa is issued on the spot and is valid for about 3 months.
update: since November 2007 you need to provide fingerprints and will be photographed when entering Japan. This has been covered in the media (eco), has privacy advocates up in arms as your data will be stored and shared with whomever the Japanese government deems fit and has upset many foreign residents.
Anti-terrorism laws are often quoted as the reason for these new measures, but this sounds ironic since terrorism in Japan is mostly home-grown. Overall this leaves the somewhat bitter after-taste of the impression that its main purpose is to appeal on the xenophobic conservatives.
Travel Tip
As tourist getting to Japan should not be very difficult. You should check with the Japanese embassy of your respective country to see what your visa requirements are. For citizens of most countries, a visa is issued on the spot and is valid for about 3 months.
update: since November 2007 you need to provide fingerprints and will be photographed when entering Japan. This has been covered in the media (eco), has privacy advocates up in arms as your data will be stored and shared with whomever the Japanese government deems fit and has upset many foreign residents.
Anti-terrorism laws are often quoted as the reason for these new measures, but this sounds ironic since terrorism in Japan is mostly home-grown. Overall this leaves the somewhat bitter after-taste of the impression that its main purpose is to appeal on the xenophobic conservatives.