Rejoice, friends! The sun today shines bright on your intrepid spirits, and the land from which that sun rises beckons you to mark its shores with your enterprising stride, and indulge in its delicious, anime/gaming-flavored fruit!

What I'm talking about is Japan. And also Destination Japan's reservation form (now fully operational), which will allow you to sign up to travel there for the best Japan experience you can imagine - provided by the tour service that does it best: Destination Japan.

The form is fully secure. Your credit card information is safely encrypted before being sent to us, and we keep that information strictly confidential. Ready to make your reservation? We're ready for you.

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and undoubtedly many of you will be grilling up food and celebrating your freedom to eat whatever you want, skip meals to play video games, watch anime instead of study, and jump from roof to roof as a ninja. Okay, maybe not that last one.

Everyone knows, though, that fireworks are the traditional way to celebrate freedom (!?), so here's a little treat to get you in the mood (for freedom). This video is from a summer fireworks competition in Okazaki in the Aichi prefecture. Every summer there are several big fireworks competitions, and let me just say, they really know how to put on a fireworks show.

The hotel for the Tokyo Summer Maximum has just been changed to the Keio Plaza, located in West Shinkuku. I think it's for the better. It's closer to the station, it's closer to shops and restaurants, it's got free high-speed internet in all rooms, a pool, a fitness room, a convenience store INSIDE the hotel... I can promise you won't be disappointed with the hotel. That pic right above this text? Yeah. That's the lobby.

Over the weekend, Anime News Network posted a little blurb on their main page about Destination Japan! If you're visiting from ANN, welcome! We hope you stay for a while. If you've never been to ANN, what are you waiting for?

If you're planning on joining Destination Japan's Tokyo Summer MAXIMUM, then you're definitely gonna need one of the things pictured above. Indeed, you won't even be able to board the plane without that little booklet they call a passport. This is just a quick post to remind people who are thinking about going over there with us that if you don't have a passport already, you need to apply for one ASAP.

Why? Well it seems a recent law passed that requires you have a passport to enter some neighboring countries like Mexico and various islands in the Caribbean. Passport issuing bureaus are swamped with orders, so get yours in as soon as you can, and be sure to expedite it!