I’ve done this trip twice, once on each of my journeys to Japan. And both times, it has been among the highlights of my entire time in the country. After all, combining one of the coolest temples in a country full of cool temples with a chance to feed the sacred deer is a day…
I’m sure Kobe, Japan’s seventh largest city with a population around 1.5 million, has a lot of things going for it. I’m sure it has pretty parks, great museums, beautiful temples, and some solid history. I’m sure that if I spent a week or two here, I’d find some of those things and be able…
Editor’s note: I’m going to take a moment to gush. Regular readers of The Royal Tour will by now be incredibly familiar with the writing of Rabbi Sam Spector, easily the most prolific guest writer this outlet has ever had. In fact, many of our subscribers eagerly await his bi-weekly articles even more than my…
Sometimes in travel, plans don’t quite manifest the way we would like. An attraction is unexpectedly closed. Weather doesn’t hold. A place is much different - in a worse way - than its photo. For anyone who has spent any significant time traveling, these things will be part of their experiences; there’s no way to…
There are no two ways around it - Tokyo is a world-class city. Cool sights, great modern culture, and some of the best food anywhere in the world… all of these make Tokyo more than just the gateway to Japan. It is a destination in and of itself, a city that is easily near the…
I am not normally one to gush over an art exhibition. I enjoy art museums, and certainly get satisfaction from art in general, but it is rare that I am so taken by an art display that I recommend it wholeheartedly to everyone I know. Well, this one raises the bar. In doing the research…
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun, political leader of Japan, by conquering the other factions that made up the home islands. After doing so, he moved the Imperial capital to his home city of Edo, now called Tokyo. This launched the period of Japanese history known as the Edo Period. (Japanese eras are named for…
Cherry blossom season in Japan is a magical time. For a couple brief weeks in early spring, the country is transformed both by the physical blooming of these stunning flowering trees, and by the excitement of locals and visitors in getting to experience them. Here in Tokyo, a few places seem to be the most…
Editor’s note: I’ve been to Cambodia, a trip focused solely on the beauty that is Siem Reap and the Angkor complex. Our amazing Dutch writer Hedy took in the entire country, and with it the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge and one of the worst genocides of the modern era. Her story of the trip…
In 2020, my family planned a trip to Japan, a cruise around the islands. That was obviously canceled when the world closed. The trip was tentatively rescheduled for 2022, but Japan didn’t reopen, so it never moved forward. Here we are in 2024, and the trip is booked, finally. I was in Japan once before,…