Photos

• Another pancit I really like

  A loaded plate of pancit, bright with vegetables and finished with egg, chicharon, and savory toppings.

• Front-row seats for two

  Amid the gentle bustle of Queen’s Square Yokohama, two people sat close together, making the busy plaza feel briefly like a private corner.

• Toward Queen’s Square

  About to take the steps from Yokohama Landmark Plaza, with Queen’s Tower A rising on the right and one of Queen’s Square Yokohama’s pyramid-roofed structures quietly looming ahead.

• Hokkaido Kitchen YOSHIMI Yokohama

  Just the menu cover.

• Shinjuku’s curious splash of yellow

  In a corridor of practical buildings and busy traffic lights, Mannenya’s yellow façade stands out with the cheerful confidence of an old neighborhood mascot. The mural gives the street an unexpected pause: strange, charming, and impossible to ignore.

• Shinjuku Park Tower witnessing the end-of-winter

  The Shinjuku Park Tower, as seen from across the street from Shinjuku Chuo Park.

• Samurai, sales pitches, and a lucky white snake

  In Asakusa, Iwakuni tourism representatives and costumed rifle-corps reenactors gather around a small stage promoting the city’s sights, products, and history. Nearby, a giant coiled white snake — one of Iwakuni’s local symbols — completes the scene.

• Shelter in the green

  A quiet mini pavilion sits tucked beneath the trees, almost swallowed by the surrounding garden. The scene feels less like a landscaped corner and more like a place the foliage decided to keep for itself.

• The mushroom main event

  Creamy rice, earthy mushrooms, and a little Parmesan on top—simple ingredients doing very good work.

• Beachfront, bed, and barbecue

  Besaga’s rustic entrance invites guests in for breakfast, lunch, dinner—or perhaps a little happy hour before the beach barbecue begins.