JAPAN PARTY EXPRESS SWEEPSTAKES:
Like us to Win A Free Trip to Japan!

A trip to Japan is an unforgettable experience. Visiting Japan with three of your closest friends, now that's something extra special- Join our JAPAN PARTY EXPRESS FACEBOOK SWEEPSTAKES for a chance to win a free trip for four.

Simply like our Facebook Page, enter the sweepstakes, choose your journey and invite three of your best buddies to climb aboard. Click here to visit our Facebook Page and climb aboard. But hurry, all trains must leave the station by December 30th.

Japan's top cultural destination Kyoto has been crowned as the best Asian city of 2011 in the Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Award 2011.
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Opening its largest flagship store in the world on 5th Ave in New York, UNIQLO now has 207 stores in 12 countries outside of Japan, alongside its 852 domestic stores...
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Taking advantage of travel data in English while in Japan is a snap, thanks to the Japan Accommodations and Restaurant Research Site...
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JAPAN

Japan Big Welcome Campaign
(November 2011 - March 2012)

Japan Travel Agency has launched the Visit Japan Campaign Super Saver Coupon to extend a warm welcome to those planning a first time trip to Japan, or those returning for another visit! From September 2011 until March 2012, Visit Japan invites tourists to come and enjoy the beautiful autumn colors, the striking winter landscapes and the delicate Japanese early spring... For More >>

Tamaseseri Festival in Fukuoka
(January 3, 2012)

"Oisa! Oisa!" These are the boisterous cries one hears during the Tamaseseri Festival that is held every year on January 3rd at the Hakozaki Shrine in Fukuoka. The festival, a traditional form of fortune telling, has a 500 year history, and is believed to predict a bumper crop or a large catch of fish for the current year... For More >>

Winter Wonderland

As fall deepens into winter, scenery in Japan changes from the glory of autumn leaves to the austere beauty of a snow covered landscape. There are any number of places to enjoy the winter season; here are listed some of the most famous!... For More >>

Tokyo Marathon 2012
(February 26, 2012)
Tokyo Marathon, starting in 2007, now attracts over 250,000 worldwide participants a year. This is the last chance to join the Tokyo Marathon 2012. Check out KIE's exclusive marathon package (offer ends Dec. 9) which guarantees entry into the marathon!
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Yes, Japan is Back

Here's a very interesting article by Zen Lynch, a global kid traveler who is in love with Japan. See how she enjoys her trip to Japan!

I guess you heard my family and I will be returning to Japan for our 5th cherry blossoms/sakura trip. We will be joined this time by my Florida friend, Zoe (Zoe's mom is Marta of TravNET!). My mom and I had a debate of Burma versus Japan last night. I have been to Burma twice, while I have visited Japan six times... Read More >>

Amazing Kyoto

Another story is by Dasa Jacisinova of Village Travel Agency, a travel professional who visited Japan for the first time.

While visiting Japan, we spend 3 nights in Kyoto- ancient capital of Japan. After experiencing the city and everything it has to offer, it came as no surprise that Kyoto was voted as the Best Asian City of 2011 by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler... Read More >>

Pacific Holidays: Great Cities of Asia: Kyoto (Travel through March 31, 2012)
(from $1799)

Travel to historical Kyoto. Explore the gorgeous interiors of Nijo Castle, and marvel at the gold-leaf covered Golden Pavilion. See the sacred relics of Buddha at the Kinkakuji Temple. Enjoy the simplicity and purity of Japanese style at the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and watch craftsmen work at the Kyoto Handicraft Center. For more, visit here.

JTB USA: Hokkaido Snow Festival Tour (Departure: February 05,2012)
($2,169/person* based on double occupancy)

*Includes 6 night hotel, sightseeing, daily breakfast, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, English speaking tour guide etc.

KIE: Kyoto Marathon 2012 Land Package (Sep. 26, 2011 - Jan. 26, 2012)
(from $642 for runners and $433 for companions)

KIE is the exclusive U.S. travel agency offering a package for the 2012 Kyoto Marathon. The city's first full marathon will be held on March 11, 2012, the one-year anniversary of the tragic Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. The event will raise funds for the reconstruction of the Tohoku region, and will invite more visitors to Japan. The land-only package includes: guaranteed entry into the marathon, 3-nights hotel accommodations, shuttle bus from hotel to starting point, and a charitable donation. Do your body and soul good by participating in the 2012 Kyoto Marathon. Let KIE take you there!

For more, visit here.

Quiz: Where in Japan?

Japan's quality for cooking knives has been widely recognized for sharpness and durability. Knives produced in THIS CITY are especially popular among culinary professionals. The City is also known as the birthplace of Sen-no-Rikyu, one of the greatest tea masters of the 16th century.

Hint: will be found from here!
"The City of Craftsmanship"

Prize:Two lucky winners will be chosen from among all correct answers submitted to receive a Chusen dyed chopstick bag.

How to enter: You can enter by December 31, 2011, at
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22DS2EPBEPY/

Let's review the last quiz. The answer to the last issue's quiz is Shizuoka (Prefecture). Out of 135 replies, 121 (89.6%) had the correct answer!

No trip to Japan would be complete without at least one visit to a depachika. The word may sound vaguely Slavic, but it is pure Japanese—"depa" is an abbreviation for department store, and "chika" means underground. A Depachika is a department-store basement, but it is the farthest thing from a bargain basement full of discount clothing than you can possibly imagine!

Depachika are glorious shrines to gourmet foods, domestic, non-Japanese and Western. Often encompassing more than one floor, these spectacular emporiums are dedicated to a huge variety of foods (it is said that an average food basement stocks around 30,000 items).

Consider this: small concession stands, one after the other, as far as the eye can see, offering everything from pastries from Fauchon, bratwurst courtesy of Dallmayr, cheese from Peck, oolong tea from China Tea House, to seasonally themed Japanese sweets, marbled Wagyu beef, smoked salmon rice balls, and the finest shade-grown green tea from Fukuoka, not to mention a dazzling selection of wines and sake. It is a mind-boggling array of foodstuffs, raw and prepared, sweet and savory, domestic and international.

Feeling a bit peckish? Some of the vendors offer tastes of their wares with such a courteous demeanor that you can hardly refuse—and why would you want to, anyway? Where else can you sample such a cornucopia of treats? You can eat sample after sample, and there is never any commitment to buy, but be warned—only the most stoic of souls could walk out of a depachika empty handed.

For more information, visit here.

Thank you very much for reading the Japan Travel Newsletter, November, 2011 Issue!

October, 2011 was an exciting month for us! Kyoto was crowned the #1 Asian city by Condé Nast Travler for the first time. UNIQLO opened its new and biggest shop in the world on 5th avenue in New York. And we've got more subscribers from the New York Anime Festival & Comic Con event. Welcome newcomers! Please have fun reading it.

We are also happy to announce you that we will send newsletters more often: you will receive them every month starting from this issue. That way we will be able to keep you up-to-date with timely topics.

I wish all our friends a Happy Holiday Season! See you next month.