Japan Travel Guide 2015
Hajimemashite! It’s wonderful to meet you.
Are you looking for a Japan Travel Guide… or Japan Travel Book?
Congrats! You’ve found a truly unique Japanese Travel Book. This is not another Japan Travel Guide 2015 that will bore you to death with pages and pages of dross. The concept of this Japan Travel Book is simple - Fun and Awesome Things to do and see in Japan listed alphabetically.
This Japan Travel Book will be a super useful companion for you in you believe in simplicity
Since traveling to and living in Japan, I have realized that the products and treasures of each Japanese cultural era—from the Genji monogatari of Heian times, to the tea ceremonies and samurai battles of the Edo period, to its modern Heisei creations of bullet trains, department stores, and manipulatable photo booths, to the practice of flower-viewing as abiding cultural heritage—all of these are an equal part of that wonderful thing that is Japanese culture.
The “kawaii” obsession of Harajuku schoolgirls with Hello Kitty and other mascots in modern-day Tokyo is no more or less “Japanese” than the history encapsulated in the Golden Pavilion of Kyoto; the phenomenon of giving and receiving Valentine’s chocolates as “obligation” (giri) or “true feeling” (honmei) is just as Japanese as the sensation of peace and clarity conveyed through the austere beauty of a zen garden.
With 98.9% of its population coming from Japanese descent, Japan may be essentially racially homogenous: but it’s precisely the way such a diverse history and colorful culture are contained within that homogeneity that makes Japan so fascinating, so beautiful, and so gosh-darned wonderful to me.
In this Japanese travel book, I hope to reveal to you not only a list of twenty-six fun places to go and things to see in Japan, but the way to appreciate them both as a foreigner, and as if you were Japanese.
With each letter, you will learn of something to do or see, with a bit of native history, a cultural context in the modern day, and tips for enjoying it best.
It is my hope that you by using this Japanese travel book, you will
•Become able to recognize cultural distillation, look through it, and appreciate the purity of true Japanese culture;
•Become a savvier traveller in Japan, and one able to apply your newfound skills elsewhere;
•Become enamored of Japanese culture;
•And, of course, to enjoy yourself as much as possible.
And so, with open eyes and open hearts: Nihon e ikimashou— Buy the book now and let’s go to Japan! ^_^
