TRAVEL

From high atop the summit of Mount Fuji last summer, despite miserable weather and poor visibility, 32-year-old tech enthusiast Joseph Tame sent video coverage of a spectacular solar eclipse live to the Internet from an impromptu mobile-broadcasting studio. With little more than a laptop and a Web connection, Tame's high-altitude adventure was watched by about 370 viewers down below. The Fuji climb was a great example of the promise of Ustream, a live-streaming video service. Having received ¥1.8 billion in investment from Japanese telecom giant SoftBank in January this year, Ustream is now seeping into mainstream consciousness in Japan, enabling aspiring broadcasters to shout their message from the mountains, valleys and everywhere in between - all in real time. (Japan Times)

Several hundred thousand people climb Japan's Mount Fuji every year, many of them in the peak period of July and August. But for an altogether more secluded and spiritual hiking experience, the Kumano Kodo region four hours south of Osaka offers an ancient network of pilgrimage trails and majestic shrines set among the densely forested mountains of the Kii Peninsula. The Kumano Kodo - meaning "Kumano old roads" - includes the Buddhist retreat of Mt. Koya and the temple area of Yoshino, sites that are relatively well-visited because of their proximity to Kyoto and Osaka. It also includes the three grand Shinto shrines, or "sanzen," near the southern tip of the peninsula - an appendage of the main Japanese island of Honshu - and the pilgrimage pathways that link all these locations. (Wall Street Journal)

It is a league that is seeing a growing number of international players in its stadia, it has some of the best facilities in the world and it is already one of the most-watched football leagues around but the J-League is not about to stop there. From the atmospheric old arenas like Shimizu S-Pulse's Nihondaira Sports Stadium where fans can gaze at Mount Fuji if the football is not up to much and Kawasaki Frontale's oddly shaped Todoroki Stadium, located in a picturesque park in the middle of a pleasant residential area to the space age World Cup arenas such as Urawa's Saitama Stadium and the Kashima Soccer Stadium - the J-League is growing in stature and reputation. (goal.com)

The words "Japan, wine exporter" have a somewhat unlikely ring but that is the aim of a new organisation, Koshu of Japan, which is keen to shine an international spotlight on a grape variety that is often dismissed within its native country. I have just made my second visit in 12 years to Yamanashi prefecture, the Bordeaux of Japan in terms of winemaking. Except it reminds me more of Switzerland than Bordeaux. Every square metre in the heavily populated Kofu basin overlooked by Mount Fuji is cosseted. Individual vineyards are tiny, partly thanks to the postwar policy, implemented by General Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw Japan's reconstruction, of weakening the powerful landowners by redistribution. Farmers are protected. Labour costs are high. And the most-planted vine variety, like the Chasselas that is known as Fendant in French-speaking Switzerland, is also a table grape. (FT.com)

About 1,100 people watched the first sunrise of the year Friday on six special New Year flights arranged by three Japanese airlines, with passengers on some of the flights also getting a view of Mount Fuji. Struggling Japan Airlines Corp., which is seeking a turnaround under state supervision, operated three of the flights, each departing from and landing back at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Narita airport east of the capital and Kansai airport in Osaka Prefecture, carrying a combined 750 people. (Japan Times)

In the Japan of 2020 a stressed-out salaryman may unwind from his hectic futuristic lifestyle by time-travelling back a few centuries and taking a virtual stroll through medieval Tokyo. As he walks over arched wooden bridges, he will chat with the avatars of his real world friends, admire pollution-free views of Mount Fuji and perhaps do some cash-free souvenir shopping for a digital download of a woodblock print. He will navigate through the city once called Edo from the comfort of his intelligent living room, wearing 3-D glasses and moving about by waving a super-networked mobile phone that is attached to his wrist like a watch. (AFP)

Amid the booming popularity of visiting shrines and other ancient sanctuaries that the Japanese love to call "power spots," from Ise and Izumo shrines to Mount Fuji, perhaps a visit to the pilgrimage routes of Kumano Kodo seems a bit challenging. Nestled among the steep mountain ranges of the Kii Peninsula -- one of the world's only two pilgrimage routes designated as World Heritage sites, along with Spain's Santiago de Compostela -- Kumano Kodo is a 307.6-kilometer network of routes straddling Wakayama, Mie and Nara prefectures in western Japan. (Mainichi)

With hard-frozen snow and gusty whirlwinds raging, Mount Fuji in winter, where two climbers were found dead Saturday, is "as dangerous as Himalayan mountains," experts say. The bodies of the two climbing companions of former Formula One racer Ukyo Katayama, 46, were found by a police rescue team around the 2,800-meter point after noon Saturday. (Asahi)

Microsoft is looking to expand ties with Japanese universities and has unveiled a multi-million dollar long-term plan to deepen its research roots in the country. The "Mount Fuji Plan" got its start this week and builds on the software maker's Institute for Japanese Academic Research and Collaboration (IJARC) that was formed in 2005 by Bill Gates. It focuses on fundamental-level research projects. (PC World)

Growing up in prewar Tokyo, Makoto Kaneko recalls that the perfectly shaped, snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji was like a constant companion, visible on the horizon from the narrow streets of his hilly working-class neighborhood. The most majestic view was from a steep hillside affectionately named Fujimizaka, "the slope for seeing Mount Fuji." Today, Mr. Kaneko's cramped 80-year-old shop selling foods cooked in soy sauce is one of several old wooden stores and Buddhist temples that still stand here, making the Nippori neighborhood a rare oasis of medieval charm in Tokyo's concrete sprawl. But the distant volcano, Japan's tallest peak and pre-eminent national symbol, has been increasingly blocked by skyscrapers and smog. (New York Times)

The last major outdoor music festival of the year, Asagiri Jam has been dubbed "the real Fuji Rock Festival" due to its very scenic location at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka. The two-day concert was established in 2001 and inspired by the spirit of the late 1960s and the communal atmosphere at early editions of pioneering events such as The Isle of Wight Festival, Glastonbury, and The Cambridge Folk Festival. (Japan Times)

The Japanese Self Defence Forces have displayed their military readiness at an annual drill near Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture. Eighty armoured vehicles, 25 aircraft and 2400 troops took part in the event at the Higashi Fuji Japan Drill Field, the largest drill of its kind. (BBC)