Japan has so many interesting signs, sometimes funny, and other odd things on the streets. Here are a few more that we came across recently.

There are loads of animal cafes in Japan, from cats & dogs to more exotic animals like piglets, otters, capybaras and owls, and many don’t have a good reputation when it comes to caring for the animals. So it was with a bit of concern that we looked into these. We think we found a… Read More Otterly adorable 🦦

We left our closer spot to Mount Fuji for Hakone, a place just south of Fuji Five Lakes but still with a gorgeous view of the famous mountain. During our only full day here, we took the bus to a park with impressive views, a few cafes, and a crafthouse. One of the services it… Read More Bead making in Hakone (by Z)

TeamLab (the folks who did the Osaka Botantical Gardens display) do a few more interactive art pieces, including Planets in Tokyo (there’s also Borderless but we only had time for one). Spoiler alert: I didn’t like this as much as the former (partly due to the crowds) but it was still pretty. My favourite section… Read More TeamLab Planets

We stayed a couple of days in Hakone. It’s a great little area with lots of onsen (traditional Japanese baths) which we did not partake in – the kids would not have been up for that 😬 Instead, they did a glass bead making session. (The adults were considering doing it too but it turned… Read More Open air art & bead making

We spent a couple of hours exploring Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Temple which has over 1200 carved stone figures made by the community. They were encouraged to create their own rakan statues (representations of Buddha’s disciples, not actually Buddha) as they wished so there is a HUGE variety of figures. Some are in prayer while others have… Read More Mario Buddha?!

One of Kyoto’s most Instagrammable spots is the Fushimi Inari Shrine – famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates. With the kids not being interested in temples and shrines, plus the crowds, M & N made a quick evening dash to this one for some photos with the kids (AKA complaints). We arrived as… Read More A lot of torii gates ⛩️

This was not what we expected, to say the least, but it was still an amazing experience! We had to rush a bit to get to the perfume making on time, because we were in another store, but when we got there, we had assumed there would be another room to pick your scent. It… Read More Perfume making (by I)

We were lucky enough that we managed to include the Hello Kitty shinkansen* into our schedule 🙌 We rode it for just over an hour and that was good amount of time for everyone to explore and enjoy. I’m not sure I trust the conductor though… There’s the compulsory photo areas which Esti enjoyed. Even… Read More Hello Kitty Shinkansen