Hackpacker

MAMYU, the museum's mascot available for photo opportunities As lifelong comics fan and gold-standard nerd, I'd been looking forward to visiting the Kyoto International Manga Museum . Maybe a little too much. It boasts a collection in excess of 50,000 manga titles which create several walls of manga that stretch over 200 meters throughout the former Tatsuike Primary School. For bibliophiles it might be enough to see the shelves curving around the building or see Japanese visitors of all ages sitting reading their favourites. But the 'international' titles are restricted to a range of translations in the bookshop and a few examples of manga's influence with international books (including Australia's own Queenie Chan). Japanese manga is so popular that it almost doesn't need translation into English. Reading up on the extensive Wall of Manga There are great exhibitions which are bilingual. The Manga Hall of Fame, for example, draws together some of ...

One of the best experiences we had was sushi making at Buddha Bellies . Before we left for Japan we visited a local sushi train and tried a place in Tokyo so by the time we got to Buddha Bellies we thought we knew a bit about Japan's original street food. We were wrong. Ayuko prepares to slice and flip the rice. Our host was expert sushi chef and sake sommelier Ayuko Akiyama who starts the class with an overview of sushi's history and the huge variety of sushi. We were familiar with nigiri (rice with topping and a belt of nori) and sliced nori rolls but she also showed us a family style that was wrapped into a cone of seaweed and other kooky types. Our class was a basic one with nigiri and nori rolls that was great for kids though we were tempted to come back and do the mosaic sushi which was presented in a colourful square of deliciousness. My basic nori rolls We make sushi at home so the advanced techniques Ayuko showed us were really helpful. Turns out we've ...

Totoro guides you on the path there At the other end of the technology spectrum to the  Digital Art Museum , the Ghibli Museum is a no-photos shrine to the films of Hayao Miyazaki. Refreshingly low tech and hands on, it brings the films to life and gives you insights into the animation process. Even if you've never seen films like Kiki's Delivery Service or Princess Mononoke , you'd recognise figures like Totoro and the distinctive animation style. Approaching the building, you are met at a ticket booth staffed by Totoro himself though you have to wander around the corner to a long line to get in.  The Ghibli Museum building is three stories The Museum has been here since 2001 with a series of permanent exhibitions refreshed by newer displays and a short film usually only seen in the museum's theatre. Ours was Boro the Caterpillar, a 14-minute peek into the birth and early life of a cute critter. There's great walks through the studios that showca...

As a stunning visual spectacular, Tokyo's Digital Art Museum  has become the must-Instagram experience for visitors to the city. Its full name -  Building Digital Art Museum Epsom teamLab Borderless - suggests just how big the collaboration must have been to get this 100,000sqm exhibition space happening. It took the Mori Building Group and Epsom to make it work and nothing about it feels like this was a cheap exercise. The collaborative art group teamLab are known for works in Singapore and London but with this permanent space they paint across a big canvas. Rendering butterflies, flowers and charging rhinos onto walls, floors, mirrors and a series of cutomised surfaces, the canvas is truly vast and visitors are warned in advance that this is about discovery - non-sequential, likely to get lost and maddening to visitors wanting linear narrative. This means you can jump in anywhere and experience the exhibition any way you want. The Borderless part of the title is about ...

We're about to take off to Japan with our daughter. Before we went we wanted to get her excited about the trip so here's a few things that worked for us. Culture vulturing Getting ready with some research (into Astroboy) To get set for our trip we tried to see as much Japanese culture before we left. With kids sometimes being fussy eaters we kicked off a program of Adventurous Eating. This meant trying something new (ideally from Japan) once a week. To make this easier we went to a Japanese restaurant that had a good range. In Japan a lot of places specialise in one type of food (like sushi trains or okonomiyaki ) so we looked for a place that offered a good range. Sure our kiddo went with her favoured sushi (avocado with not much else) but with a bit of nudging we got into tempura, plus you can move mountains with the promise of fried ice cream after the mountain has shifted. Our kid has always enjoyed the films of  Hayao Miyazaki ,  but if you've never seen them...

November will see the release of Peter Carey's latest, Olivier and Parrot in America . I was lucky enough to snag an advance of this thumping tome and it's an impressive work. One of the things I like about Carey is that he is very much an Australian abroad so his writing looks at being stretched between two cultures. In his latest Europeans head into the belly of America just as that nation was the hope for democracy. But don't take my word for it. Here's what the man himself has to say: Interview with Peter Carey from Granta magazine on Vimeo . Today another Australian writer kicks off a new project. Under the dubious title of Marieke Hardy in Your Hand , The Age has launched a venture into m-fiction, or stories delivered by text. While it may be a first for Australia, cell fiction is already popular in Japan where keitai shosetsu (cell phone novels) have pulled in millions of dollars from subscriptions of less than two bucks a novel. Fairfax are relying on disco...