Enjoy your trip to Japan

Awa Odori Festival Guide: Tokushima’s Famous Summer Dance (2026)

Every August, the city of Tokushima on the northeastern coast of Shikoku transforms into the stage for Awa Odori — Japan’s largest and most exuberant traditional dance festival, drawing over one million visitors over four days and nights in mid-August. The festival is ancient: its origins trace to at least the late 16th century, when the local lord Hachisuka Iemasa is said to have thrown open the gates of his newly completed castle and allowed the townspeople to dance freely in celebration. The dancing has never really stopped since. Today, Awa Odori is both a profound act of communal celebration […]

Best Things to Do in Kochi: The Complete Travel Guide (2026)

Kochi Prefecture sits on the southern coast of Shikoku, Japan’s smallest main island, and it is one of the country’s most rewarding and least-visited destinations. Known as the birthplace of Ryoma Sakamoto — the revolutionary samurai who helped topple the Tokugawa shogunate and open Japan to the modern world — Kochi combines rich historical legacy with dramatic Pacific coastline, pristine river systems, and a food culture built around the freshest seafood in Japan. For travelers willing to venture beyond the well-worn Kyoto-Tokyo corridor, Kochi delivers an authentic encounter with Japanese culture, history, and nature that is genuinely difficult to find […]