All the studying I did back when I was in my home country amounted to very little success in communicating in Japan. My skills eventually improved, but not through books or exams. This video shows how I honed my skills, and no, it doesn’t really have anything to do with mushrooms, but who doesn’t like eringi, right?
Under the MEXT scholarship, I studied Gender and Media at the University of Tokyo from 2011 to 2014. Here’s how I got in.
Mother Farm is an easy day trip from Tokyo that you can enjoy with family and friends. Get to see and play with farm animals including cows, sheep and even capybaras!
Isumi Railway is best known for its Moomin Train, fashioned after the beloved Finnish series of the same name. Running along the Bōsō Peninsula, these yellow train cars take its passengers through Chiba’s green fields and historic towns, and is especially popular in spring as cherry and rape blossoms (菜の花) frame the landscape.
Located at the fringes of western Tokyo, Okutama is a town that offers the quiet majesty of nature to anyone who drops by for a visit. I walked the Otama Trail for my first ever solo hike, which gave way to a lot of reflection.
![[Hiroshima] Shukkeien Garden in Photos](https://i0.wp.com/tokyopast3.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/img_8479.jpg?fit=768%2C307&ssl=1)
Located in Hiroshima City, Shukkeien Garden is a park that dates back to 1620. Like many traditional Japanese gardens, a pond lies at its center, and around it, a walking trail. It takes around an hour to explore the entirety of the park at a leisurely pace.
Travel, for me, is about finding the beauty in the fleeting moments, whether it’s an old man trying to take a photo of his wife, or a young mother taking her two sons out.
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
