Many times have I travelled to the mystical Orient. I have worshipped the mighty Fuji-san from up close, admired the cherry blossoms in Spring (o-hanami), wafted smoke from giant incense burners over myself in peaceful temples, stood in noodle shops slurping noisily at a bowl of udon, and spent happy hours wandering around Ueno, where they've got zillions of motorbike shops. What a country.

The following links are some of my personal favourites. If you find any broken links, let me know! If you know of any good pages about Japan, let me know that too! The pages are all in English unless otherwise stated.

• Links to pages of links

  Jim Breen's Japanese page - Jim is author of the EDICT dictionary, and a god-like figure who should be worshipped by us unworthy mortals. He also maintains the Monash Nihongo ftp Archive.
  
  The Japan Web Guide - by Forest Linton. Recently updated.
  
  
  

• Mount Fuji sites

  • Climbing Fuji-san

    Mt Fuji climbing info - The Mt Fuji English Climbing Information Service of the Fujiyoshida City International Affairs Desk. The info is specific to the north (Yamanashi) side of the mountain.
    
    TravelASSIST - Mt Fuji Japan Climbing Fools - A TravelASSIST Magazine article - a personal account of a climb by Bruce Corson, including photos. Also has a bit of info about altitude sickness.
    
    
    

  • Realtime cams

    Mount Fuji Viewer - Probably the best view, and you can control the camera. The text is in Japanese, but just tells you to click on the photo to rotate the camera angle.
    
    
    

• Learning the language

  • Links to useful language sites

    Nihon-no-Kotowaza - Japanese proverbs and sayings, with English equivalents.
    
    iLoveLanguages, Japanese - Links to lots of Japanese language related sites.
    
    Japanese <-> English Dictionary Server - by Jim Breen.
    
    Let's learn KATAKANA! - For kids, really, but handy for learning Katakana.
    
    Let's learn HIRAGANA! - as above. These sites also have audio files of the character being studied.
    
    
    

  • View / buy the books I used when I was learning Japanese!

    Japanese for Busy People (Vol 1) - Definitely recommended for all beginners.
    
    Japanese for Busy People (Vol 2) - Follows on where Vol 1 left off.
    
    Hiragana Gambatte! - A superb book which makes learning Hiragana fun.
    
    Katakana Gambatte! - Another well-presented book from the same writer.
    
    
    

• Japanese Newspapers

  The Daily Yomiuri, which has an English version.
  
  Mainichi, which is also available in English.
  
  The Japan Times Online - English only.
  
  Asahi NewsPaper... again has an English version.
  
  
  

• Other stuff

  Japan for the Uninvited - Insightful.
  
  You know you've been in Japan too long when... - Funny.
  
  quirky japan - Japan behind the scenes.