Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle is an imposing landmark in a central location in Wakayama. The city did feel comparatively deserted compared to neighbouring Osaka, so I suspected if I did the Castle tour I'd get a good experience without any crowds. The approach to the castle takes you through a stunning Japanese
Destination Wakayama
Wakayama is a major nature exploration area in the south of Honshu, Japan. I wasn't here to do any of its famous hiking however, I'm more just here to escape the hustle and bustle of Osaka and slow down a little. I was able to find a co-working hostel to stay at, and Wakayama was, as promised, far
Osaka Castle
A short one today, a quick day-trip to Osaka Castle, which is an impressive structure that managed to survive World War II. It's the model of what a lot of people think about when they think of Japanese castles. ::gallery[@1,@2,@3,@4,@5,@6,@7,@8,@9,@10,@11,@12,@13]{layout=mosaic} Unfortunately a l
Destination Osaka
Japan's Kitchen is a short train ride south from Kyoto, and the last major city stop on this tour of Japan. It's famous for its street food culture, neighbourhoods and shopping districts - oh also a big billboard (for some reason). ::gallery[@1,@2,@3,@4,@5,@6,@7,@8,@9,@10,@11,@12,@13,@14,@15,@16,@1
Hōkan-ji Temple
You've seen the Hōkan-ji Temple, specifically its Yasaka Pagoda, even if you don't know what it's called. Google 'Kyoto' and you'll see a picture of a Pagoda with a cherry blossom tree. It's a famous camera shot that thousands of tourists flock to each year to capture, particularly in Autumn. Well,
Nara and the Bamboo Forest
Kyoto was the base to explore further out to see the Deers and Nara (to the south east) and the Bamboo Forest (to the north west). Kyoto has lots of shrines and attractions in its city center, but you can escape the city center for some of its natural attractions. First up was Nara to the south eas
Destination Kyoto
We arrived in Kyoto after a terribly long train trip from the snow. Our train was delayed because of inclement weather (apparently this year is record snow falls for Japan, explains our great time so early in the season. We arrived to stunning night-time landscapes and a very busy city centre. Here
Happo One
Happo One was the next resort I visited, after regaining my confidence (and bruising my rib) at Goryu and Happo 47. This resort hosts the Nagano Games' Olympic ski run, along with many other intermediate runs. I was excited to do them all and was pleasantly surprised at the substantially lower crow
Hakuba Valley, Goryu & Hakuba 47
The Hakuba Valley is our destination for Skiing, a short bus ride from Nagano, it was home to the 1998 Winter Olympic Ski run and has at least 8 ski resorts within a shuttle bus network (some sources are saying 10 resorts - look we get it, there's a lot of snowsports to do here). Here's the initial
Destination Nagano & Snow Monkey Park
Japan is a top winter sports destination, and Nagano was its host city for the 1998 Winter Olympics which I remember fairly well. We took the Shinkansen Bullet Train from Tokyo to Nagano and did some exploring around this winter-sports hub. ::gallery[@1,@2,@3,@4]{layout=mosaic} Nagano is famous fo
Hakone & Mt Komagatake
Hakone is a little rural mountain town south of Tokyo famous for its Tori Gate, its Shrine and its views of Mt. Fuji. It was a little bit of a trek to get here, as you have to take a private bus through winding mountains, plus it was fairly cold. Nevertheless, we were resolved to get the famous view
Sensōji 浅草寺
Sensōji is the popular tourist spot and temple in Asakusa, which is right near where we were based for this leg of the Tokyo journey. This was the first taste of overtourism in Japan, which is at least comparable to Europe if not worse. This is especially the case at the Shinto shrines. ::gallery[@
Meiji Jingu 明治神宮
The touring started with a morning trip to Meiji Jingu. Unlike with the various European religious buildings, Shinto Shrines are awesomely placed amongst nature so we enjoyed a nice walk through the forest in the brisk Tokyo winter morning weather. ::gallery[@1,@2,@3,@4,@5,@6,@7,@8,@9,@10,@11,@12,@