Cities, restaurants, temples, shops, markets? Cultural experiences? Museums? Bars, late night jazz clubs? Dancing? Drinking? Who needs any of it? Japan offers, instead, a unique and magical one of a kind opportunity to explore the depths of your soul, and live to tell the tale. Ryokans, a type of … Read more
Summer just doesn’t make sense without food trucks, outdoor concerts, free performances, and hoards of travelers looking for a place to camp out. Whether you depart with a backpack or arrive first class, there’s a festival out there for you this summer, and here’s just a few of the best … Read more
From the lobby’s marble floor to the top floor’s panoramic views, The Peninsula Tokyo is, in its entirety, refined through and through. As Tokyo’s landmark hotel, this location of The Peninsula Group doesn’t lack for opulence. The fusion of traditional Japanese culture, the latest technology, sublime service and a prime … Read more
Jugatsu-ya In a dialogue with world class Japanese chef, Shinichiro Takagi, at the International Luxury Lifestyle Forum held in Kanazawa City in February, 2010, Alain Ducasse, the French cuisine master, remarked that “a chef is one who shares.” This is the ultimate lesson that Takagi embodies and brings forth at … Read more
When one thinks “Tokyo”, immediately futuristic technology, enormous Sony Trinitron screens, Hello Kitty and “Lost in Translation” come to mind. While these images are truly a part of the Japanese urban landscape, a new neighborhood in Tokyo has recently begun to sprout, offering a respite from the overwhelming cacophony … Read more
Considering the efficiency of Japan, it’s interesting to witness the dramatic change to Roppongi, an enduring neighborhood in the city of Tokyo. This district has had a diverse and colorful history not unlike the amusement park aura of Times Square, New York, but in its current metamorphosis, Roppongi has … Read more
I love Tokyo and in my next life I imagine you’ll find me in my suite on the 47th floor of the Park Hyatt showering and dressing for drinks and dinner with Scarlett Johansson between takes of, “Lost in Translation,” which was filmed at the hotel. Tokyo invokes manic … Read more
I considered Kyoto a one-day trip, planned to visit for two, and in the end stayed for three. The truth is though you could easily spend a week in this city three hundred miles southwest of Tokyo. Kyoto is a fishbowl city, nestled in mountains on its West, North and … Read more