mushroom pizza at La Biere in Minakami

A lullaby of snow melting in Minakami

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April 14th 2012
It was at least a few hours worth of trains, including a stint on the Shinkansen (the famous bullet trains of Japan), to arrive at Minakami, a town in mountainous Gunma Prefecture famous for their onsens (hot springs). We had been looking forward to this weekend stay at the ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) of Takaragawa Onsen for a good while. Japanese people have been using the onsens across t ... read more

Asia » Japan » Gunma » Maebashi

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In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Fol... ... read more