Stories

The international film community has been fascinated with the history, culture, and visuals of Japan, leading to numerous movies being set here. Check out these famous movies that were actually filmed in Japan.

This tradition, called hatsumode, is considered the most important visit of the year. You can protect yourself from bad spirits, give thanks for blessings in the last year, and figure out what kind of fortune to expect in the coming year.

One area that’s rich for exploring in Japan is traditional crafts, many of which have been practiced for centuries or more. Here are a few to try in 2022.

In recent years, the diversity of cuisine available in Tokyo is increasing as rapidly as the number of restaurants. Among the most popular options recently is Mexican food, which has found its home all around the city.

Many feel that the start of the year is an ideal time to make changes and improvements—to find a better version of ourselves.

This arrangement of small dishes is the most important meal of the year because each dish is said to bring a different benefit to you in the year to come. Here are the hidden meanings behind each dish.

To give you a little more insight into shogatsu, GoConnect has put together a short list of some traditional beliefs that have grown up around this major Japanese holiday.

If you have an idea for what you are looking for, you should have a relatively easy time finding gifts for any Christmas party gift exchanges or even Christmas Day.

Holidays, snow and Christmas cheer will be dominating December and January will be full of New Year celebrations. What better way to soak up the winter months than a quick trip to take part in some fun and adventurous winter sports?

Christmas markets are one of the most popular foreign traditions that Japan has adopted for the holidays. GoConnect visited this year’s Christmas Market in Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse event and this is how it went.

During the Edo Period (1603–1867), a philosopher who served under Tokugawa Ieyasu named Hayashi Razan created writings which contained the top three onsen in the world. Since then, Japanese people continue to consider these three natural hot springs to be the definitive best.

With all the noise around the year end, sometimes you need a break to enjoy the simple things. A trip to see a carefully crafted display of lights may just be the perfect downtime you need during this part of the year.