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Fallen cherry blossoms make gorgeous “sakura carpet” at Hirosaki Park 【Photos】

Seeing a park full of cherry trees in full bloom is remarkable, much like walking through a cotton candy wonderland, but even after the delicate pink petals begin to fall, they continue to offer new perspectives, many so beloved they’ve got their own word in Japanese. There’s hanafubuki, or the blizzard of petals that engulfs you when the wind picks up. There’s hazakura, the young leaves of the tree revealed once the blossoms have fallen. And there’s hanaigata or flower raft, a gathering of fallen petals on water.

At one of the most famous sakura-viewing spots in Aomori, Hirosaki Park, the little pink petals from the park’s 2,600 cherry trees gather so thick and fast on the waterways that they’ve stopped resembling rafts and completely covered the surface of the water, leading to the coining of a new phrase: sakura no juutan or the cherry blossom carpet.

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These beautiful temple gardens are…15 minutes from Narita Airport?!

For many visitors to Japan, their image of the city of Narita begins and ends with Narita International Airport. As such, most people plan their itineraries with the goal of spending as little time in the town as possible, unless they’re the type of odd sorts who just can’t get enough of waiting in airline check-in or customs lines.

In their rush to get into Tokyo or back home as soon as possible, though, they’re missing out on one of eastern Japan’s most visually impressive temples, Naritasan Shinshoji and its attached gardens.

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Green cherry blossoms blooming now across Japan

If you’re kicking yourself for missing the hanami cherry blossom viewing season in Japan, we have some good news for you. There are still some sakura in full bloom right now and not only are they perfect for picnicking under, they’re a rare green variety that has even Japanese people gasping in delight.

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With only about 20,000 residents, the city of Oarai, in Ibaraki Prefecture, isn’t exactly bursting with entertainment options. If you do find yourself with some time to kill there, though, you could stop by the Aqua World aquarium, where aquatic life including sea lions, jellyfish, and dolphins are on hand to greet visitors.

The facility is even home to a number of sharks. Don’t worry, they’re not man-eaters or anything. The sharks might just eat each other, though.

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Chinese beach glows beautiful blue in the dead of night 【Photos】

More often than not when we come across photos of China’s rivers or sea these days, they are accompanied by tales of environmental destruction and depressing statistical data on recent pollution levels. So for once, it’s nice to see some photos being shared online here in Japan that show China looking pretty.

And it doesn’t get much prettier than a beach sparkling a magical blue at night.

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There’s something about sakura: It’s hard not to fall in love with Japan’s cherry blossom【Videos】

Spring has arrived in Japan, and that can mean only one thing: Hanami, or cherry blossom viewing parties! But what is it about hanami, and those pretty pink petals in general for that matter, that manages to capture the hearts and minds of so many?

Let’s take a look at a handful of videos that capture the mood of hanami season perfectly and see if we can pinpoint exactly what it is that makes the season so special!

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The flipside to Japan’s major cities being so crowded is that large patches of the country are hardly developed at all. The need to be close to an urban center for work or school means that if you’re willing to spend a couple hours getting out of town, you can find scenes of pristine natural beauty.

Recently, a group of Japanese Internet commentators engaged in an impromptu debate about which of Japan’s rural villages is the most beautiful. They haven’t come to a consensus yet, and after looking at photos from the numerous contenders, we can see why they’re having trouble deciding on just one.

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Volcano Spawns Terrifying Tornado-Like Twisters【GIFS】

A volcanic eruption is terrifying on its own, but we just learned that, even more terrifyingly, the avalanche of hot rocks, ash, and gas that volcanoes spew can spawn giant tornado-like twisters.

This was caught on video after a pyroclastic flow from Mount Sinabung, a volcano in Indonesia that’s recently started spewing again after more than 400 years of dormancy.

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How many abandoned bicycles can fit in just one Tokyo pond?

One of the odder problems you run into living in Japan is how to throw large things away. Say you’ve just bought a new bicycle, for example. In many countries you could find a charity to donate it to, or perhaps a relative or friend of a friend who’s just starting college or a career.

Japan’s predominantly middle-class society and general dislike of used durable goods means you’re unlikely to find someone willing to take your old bike off your hands, though. Trash collectors won’t haul off something that big unless you shell out an additional fee, either. In some cases, people will simply abandon their bike somewhere, such as a back alley or deserted parking lot.

Or, apparently, in a lake in one of Tokyo’s most beloved parks.

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Five awesome hot springs in Taiwan (one of them has been on fire for 300 years!)

Japan is famous for being an onsen (hot spring) nation, so much so that a friend of mine preaches that “if you’ve never been to an onsen, then you’ve never been to Japan”. Quite the extremist, but you get the idea. Japanese hot springs come pretty close to “heaven on earth”.

But Japan’s neighboring country, Taiwan, also has some fabulous hot springs to boot! The fact that there are onsen-loving Japanese people who travel to Taiwan for a soak is sufficient to vouch for the quality of these bubbling hot baths. Here’s a list of five onsen hot spots you wouldn’t want to miss on your trip to Taiwan!

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Real-life Winnie the Pooh caught stealing honey, on run from the law

When wildlife researchers in Kochi Prefecture set up an unmanned camera in a local forest to find the cheeky wilderness creature stealing honey from an animal trap they’d set up, they probably expected to find a clever squirrel or some other creature too small or quick to set off the trap door.

Instead, what they found in video footage was what can only be described as real-life Winnie the Pooh turned to petty crime to fund his hopeless honey addiction.

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Even with the falling yen making Japan more affordable for international travelers, the country still isn’t exactly a bargain destination. Likewise, even local residents, who recently went through the double whammy of paying quarterly resident taxes and an announcement that sales tax will jump to 8 percent next year, are looking to stretch their entertainment budgets.

Thankfully, travel site Trip Advisor recently announced the results of its survey regarding the top 20 free sightseeing locations in Japan.

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We visit beautiful, bucolic Shirakawa-go to escape Tokyo’s hustle and bustle

Amazing as Japan’s metropolises are, after spending enough time in some of the most densely populated spots on the planet, urban fatigue starts to set in. There’s nothing like a getaway to the countryside to refresh your spirits after one too many days scurrying around downtown in packed train and subway cars.

The Shirakawa-go district, located in Gifu Prefecture, is close enough to Tokyo or Osaka that it makes an easy weekend escape for residents, as well as a simple side trip for overseas tourists crisscrossing the country. In terms of atmosphere, though, Shirakawa-go is worlds away from Japan’s largest cities.

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When dumplings fly: Japan’s most recent typhoon causes random objects to take flight

The wind wasn’t quite strong enough to pick up entire houses or bicycling old ladies, but Japan’s 18th typhoon of the season sent plenty of things flying onto balconies and outside windows. Twitter users across Japan were eager to post the evidence, giving us the following photo montage.

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Now that’s what we call a close one! Massive boulder nearly crushes car【Video】

We don’t know about you, but while driving around mountainside roads, we always ignore those “danger falling rocks” signs with their comical little circles sliding down a triangle. Sure, those signs are there for a reason, but we’ve never actually seen a “falling rock”…that is until now.

A recent video taken in Taiwan shows a massive boulder rolling down a mountainside and nearly flattening a car and his presumably screaming driver. Thank goodness for onboard cameras because if the vehicle in front hadn’t been equipped with one, the world would never witness this extremely close call.

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Lightning strikes moving train in Japan 【Video】

Much like sweat-stained shirts or the incessant cry of cicadas, lightning storms are just a part of summer in Japan. But with all of those electrostatic discharges, something other than the ground is bound to be hit.

On August 12, one man in Tokyo not only saw a train being struck by lightning, he caught the frightening scene on film.

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Google Japan adds four more prefectures to Streetview service, expands special photo gallery

This may look like a location from the original Star Wars, but what you’re actually looking at here is none other than the Tottori Sakyuu sand dunes, the only ones of their kind in the whole of Japan.

Tottori, Japan’s least populous prefecture, has finally joined the vast majority of the country in being featured on Google Maps’ Streetview service, which takes ground-level images of the areas surrounding major roads. Of course, this being Tottori, there weren’t always roads to drive on…

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A 150-meter long crack has suddenly widened on the ground of a Shizuoka Prefecture tea farm, while officials evacuated six local households over fears of a landslide. Read More

Testament to the strength and versatility of nature, a fish that became caught in the bait box of a small fishing boat swept away by the tsunami that struck the northeast coast of Japan in 2011 has been discovered alive and well on the coast of Washington State.

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We Catch a Glimpse of the Elusive “Shadow Fuji”

Back in August, group of our most daring reporters ventured out of Tokyo and into the wilderness to climb Mt. Fuji. Last week, weshared their report of the top 3 meal of Mt. Fuji , but it turns out there was another noteworthy occurrence that day.

At around 6 pm, just as the sun began to set, our heroes gathered their spirits and began the long hike down from the peak of the mountain. As they surveyed the sea of clouds that spread out before them one last time, one of our reporters noticed a dark triangle off in the distance.

The sun setting behind the mountain on one side; a triangular shadow cast over a canopy of clouds on the other side; our reporters were witnessing the fabled “Shadow Fuji!”

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