ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Hello, all!

I have many favorite places. Some are in America, some are in Europe, and some are elsewhere in Asia, but many of my favorite places are right here in Japan! Here are five places that I always recommend to everybody:

#5: Daio Wasabi Farm, Azumino, Nagano-ken

Do you like wasabi? I don't like it very much! Even so, the Daio Wasabi Farm is great. It's the biggest wasabi farm in Japan, and has many unique foods available. (There's wasabi ice cream, delicious wasabi juice, and even wasabi oyaki!) But the best part is watching the wasabi grow. It's planted in flowing water, and the farmers use some very interesting techniques to make it flourish. It looks beautiful, and smells great! If you're ever near Matsumoto and want to relax and learn, this is the place to do it.

#4: Meiji Jingu Gyoen, Tokyo


Meiji Jingu is my favorite place in Tokyo. Like Shinjuku Gyoen, it's a relaxing break from the heart of the city. But Meiji Jingu has a secret! For 500 yen, you can get into a small but very beautiful garden where almost no one goes. It's full of animals (my pictures show a local man feeding the songbirds and a very fat tanuki; there are also herons, turtles, cranes, deer, rabbits, Dwayne-Johnson-sized koi, and more!) and some truly lovely scenery. If you're ever in Tokyo and you want to write Romantic poetry, this is the place to do it.

#3: Hakodate, Hokkaido

Hakodate is not very popular. It's a little like Shikokuchuo or Kanonji: people think it's a nice place to live, but don't want to visit. But actually, Hakodate is really interesting! The southernmost port in Hokkaido has a long history of international communication. You can find buildings in styles from all over the world, and there's a very unique and historical star-shaped fort. I love the city's isthmus-shaped layout too. Mount Hakodate has a lovely view of the whole city, but just under the mountain is my favorite place of all: the Foreigners' Cemetery, where foreign people who died in Japan were buried before the opening of the country. If you're ever up North and you want to experience how Japan changed during the Meiji Restoration, this is the place to do it.

#2: Shirakawa-go, Gifu-ken

Shirakawa-go is a time capsule: a tiny mountain village where everything seems to be at least 200 years old. It's a famous tourist destination for its architecture and its peaceful location, so many Americans say it's not "authentic." And it's true—Shirakawa-go only exists because tourist come and pay the local families to sleep in the centuries-old minshuku and see the gassho-zukuri village. But that doesn't make Shirakawa-go any less real. There is just no better way to get a feeling for rural life in old Japan than a night in this very unique village. If you're ever near Takayama and you want to learn what furusato really means, this is the place to do it.

#1: Ō-yama, Kanagawa-ken

Perhaps it's because Minnesota is so flat, but I've always loved taking long hikes in the mountains of Japan. Although I have climbed Mount Fuji (which is very beautiful!) and many others, my personal favorite mountain is Ō-yama. It's a convenient day trip from Tokyo; it's high enough to feel like a challenge but not high enough to be exhausting; it's got great temples, shrines, animals, and dango (and I mean great handmade dango); there are several different paths so you don't get bored; it's full of history, but not crowded with people. In short, if you do one mountain hike in Japan, Ō-yama is the place to do it.

Once again, if you ever have time to travel around Japan, be sure to visit these places. Don't forget to let me know how you like them!

—Matthew