With our last day of the JR pass we headed up into the mountainous area of Minakami, in Gunma prefecture It was nice to get out of the city again and see some more of the stunning natural beauty of Japan. We had booked to do a half day white water rafting tour through Canyons. We … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 11; white water rafting in Gunma
For our day in Kyoto we picked two of the main tourist attractions to visit; Kiyomizu dera temple and Fushimi Inari shrine, both situated on the eastern edge of the city. It was another hot, humid and overcast day as we made our way to one of the most famous temples in Kyoto. As many … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 10- Kiyomizu dera & Fushimi Inari Shrine
When you think of Japan a few images may come to mind, towering sky scrapers, robot waiters, sushi, or the bright vermillion gates of shinto shrines. One place in Japan is especially famous for these gates in Fushimi Inari Taisha which is for the shinto shrine of Inari, goddess of the harvest, situated in Kyoto. … Continue reading Fushimi Inari Taisha: The never ending gates
We woke up back in Tokyo after quite a crowded train ride home, today we were leaving Tokyo again to head to Kyoto. As we had such a great time staying with K's house in Fuji we had decided to double book ourselves for the next night, having a room booked in both Ito and … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 9- Ito & Kyoto
Day 8: Kawaguchiko- K’s house Walking and Bus tour around Fuji Sengen shrine, Fuji 5th station, Wind cave, Ice cave, Aokigahara, Motosu Lake, Oishi Park For our 8th day we woke up in Kawaguchi-ko, staying at the amazing K's house hostel, in a private tatami room. Today we were doing the full day bus and … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 8- Mount Fuji tour
As a summary of our trip in 2013 here is our day to day summary Day 1: Tokyo- Land at 9:30am Narita airport- head to Jimbo-cho to check in and then visit Ueno park, explore Jimbo-cho in the evening Day 2: Tokyo- Asakusa Senso-ji temple, Skytree, Yasukuni shrine in the evening Day 3: Tokyo- Ghibli … Continue reading Japan 2013- Itinerary
On day 7 we left Tokyo for our first night staying elsewhere, on the shores of Lake Kawaguchi. We took the train route (although as you can see here the bus is quite convenient too). I personally prefer the train, especially once on the Fujikyu railway. After 6 days of the sleek efficiency of the Tokyo … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 7 – Kawaguchi-ko
For the first day of our JR pass we ventured outside of Tokyo to the nearby island of Enoshima. The legend goes that Benten, a goddess is Japanese culture, created the island in order to calm a five headed dragon that had been causing some trouble. The story goes than Benten actually married the dragon … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 6 – Enoshima and Kamakura
For our final full day in the capital we visited the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. We have both visited here before on our separate trips, but going together felt right. It was possibly the hottest day I had ever experienced in the three Japanese summers I've had- so in hindsight such an open garden may … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 5 – Tokyo
Although the heat is at times unbearable I do love the Japanese summer. My previous trip in June was less warm, but I really missed the sound of the cicada, it really is the sound of Japan to me. Today, rather than nature or history, our first stop was modern Japanese youth culture with a … Continue reading Japan 2013: Day 4 – Tokyo
My Nihon 