Author of the Hiro Hattori (Shinobi) mysteries
The New Year holidays are a particularly important time in Japan. We observe a three-day New Year celebration, which officially starts on January 1.
Preparation for the holidays often starts well in advance; we give the house a thorough, deep cleaning, to ensure everything starts the new year fresh and clean. For me, that starts about a week before December 31. When I finish cleaning, I hang the New Year decorations.
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In early December, I paid a visit to my friends Elizabeth and Satoshi at their lovely ryokan, Mori-no-yado Gableview Forest Inn, in Nikko. At dinner, Satoshi served a delicious appetizer I’d never had before: sautéed lily bulbs. I was so excited when I found them in the market, so I could enjoy them at home too!
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I tend to plan my travel fairly thoroughly, but always leave enough flexibility in my plans to enjoy the unexpected opportunities that happen frequently here in Japan. Last week, I traveled to the Fuji Five Lakes region, near Mt. Fuji, to continue my climbs for the 100 Summits project. While on the train to Kawaguchiko (Lake Kawaguchi), I saw a flyer advertising New Year fireworks–a common celebratory event here in Japan. To my surprise, the flyer said the final night of fireworks was that very night–and since my ryokan (traditional inn) was located near the lake, I hoped I would be able to
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Happy New Year, everyone! Now that 2018 is upon us, I’m officially launching My 100 Summits Project: Nihon Hyakumaeizan 2018! As I mentioned in December, I’m under contract to climb and write a book about the Nihon Hyakumeizan (100 Famous Mountains of Japan) as described in Kyūya Fukada’s 1964 mountaineering book by the same name. Fukada’s book has inspired generations of Japanese mountaineers (and many from other countries around the world) to climb his “Hundred Famous Peaks” – which Fukada selected on the basis of their history, beauty, and essential “Japanese” character. The world record for climbing all 100 peaks is
Read moreI hope you had a happy holiday season and that 2017 is a blessed, happy, and joyful year for you and your family. Look for big changes on the website in the next few months. I’m working on a new design and porting the entire website over to a larger platform (which means better stability, and better capacity to deal with the increased traffic the website is receiving). It’s going to have a whole new look, as well as expanded content about the Hiro Hattori / Shinobi Mysteries, Japan, and ninjas. Exciting things in store! I took the photo below at the Awa
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