Tag Archives: Tsu

March 03

Snow Day

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The heaviest snow fall in Mie for many years turned my little town into a silvery world just for Valentine’s Day.

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November 30

He’s back!

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My gorgeous little kingfisher pal from last winter has returned to Tsu Castle Park for another winter.  Here’s to better photos to follow when he eventually gets used to the sound of my shutter and lets me get just that little bit closer.

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October 15

Taiko in Tsu

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The ‘Tsu’-grown duo Tsu Ise-kumi (津伊勢組み) returned this year to again open the Final Stage Anotsu Yosakoi Competition (a traditional team dance competition – see my earlier Yosakoi post) at the Tsu Festival. Flutist Kusafuka Masafuji (草深 晶藤) and taiko drummer Tanaka Yoshihisa (田中 嘉久) have been putting on their high energy performances together since […]

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August 31

Summer heat beater

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July 12

Pick blueberries. Get a free watermelon.

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Check out Berry Bliss on Mie is Cool! for the details on how to visit Tsu Blueberry Farm. For a country with such a futuristic, industrialised image, my best experiences in Japan keep happening on farms. Two weeks ago, I rode past a sign advertising a come and pick your own blueberries experience. A short […]

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June 23

Rainy season = hydrangeas

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Hydrangeas at at Kazahaya-no-Sato in Hisai.

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June 17

Sights on a Sunday ride

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From Tsu, through Matsusaka to Ise.

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March 12

Bring on the blossoms

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Originally posted on Mie!:
Spring has arrived and with it so too has blossom season begun.  While the world famous sakura (桜 – cherry blossoms) steal top billing every year, the first blossoms on the scene are the plum blossoms.  More colourful and sweetly scented, mid March is their peak season.  Two top places to…

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November 23

Bolt from the blue

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I’ve previously said that Tsu and Mie are on the cleaner side, environmentally speaking by Japanese standards, but I didn’t think the centre of Tsu was this clean.  Recently, I stopped by Tsu Castle to check how the autumn colours were progressing.  It’s one of the best places in Tsu to see them even though […]

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November 11

Yo-sa-koi~

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Add crowds, a plethora of food stalls and pumping music to a riot of colourful costumes with a dash of city pride, and what do you get?  The two days of fun times that is the Tsu Matsuri (祭 – festival). Tsu might be a small and very quiet town, but, come the long weekend […]

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October 19

Stone Mountain

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Want to see a place that is a combination of hundreds of years of work in Tsu?  Well you’re in luck. Just make sure you have a set of wheels, be that two or four. A senior co-worker first told me about an interesting mountain tucked away in north-eastern Tsu (closer to Shiroko and Suzuka […]

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October 01

Neighbour-less again

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Peering out their living room window over the fence, a wife calls to her husband, “Honey, that greenie neighbour of ours has gotten himself a buzz cut and now he’s saying that he’s leaving town for eight months.  I think he might be on the run. Should we call the police?” Not an unreasonable response, […]

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May 17

Bicycle is a dirty word

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It seems that across the ditch in China bikes are disappearing from everyday life.   During Golden Week, a week spanning April/May which in Japan has five public holidays in it, I hopped over to Qingdao, China, to visit a retired Australian couple who teach English at a special hotel college there. Qingdao, the capital of […]

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March 01

Spring stirs

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Last Monday brought with it 2012’s first propper adventure.  The day dawned perfectly clear and the wind decided to take a holiday.  Looking out at such a perfect day from my workplace was too much too bear.  I gave myself an early mark after lunch and took to the road. Destination – the Kumozu River […]

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