We awoke in our old shukuba to another warm summer morning, with a few hours until the proprieter would arrive to clean the place. We had a lot to sort out, as well as get food ready for the day but before we left we wanted to wander up and down this old post town. … Continue reading Japan 2024 Day 6: Gorges and Post Towns along the Nakasendo
The main aim of our day was to get to our Shukuba (post-town) lodging that we rented out for two nights along the Nakasendo in the Kiso Valley. It is a 280km journey from where we stayed in Saitama to Suhara-juku, a lesser-known post-town north of the famous Magome and Tsumago, which we planned to … Continue reading Japan 2024 Day 4: Driving through Azumino and Narai-juku
Thanks to our early night we woke up at 3am, we opened the curtains and the typhoon had passed, the sky was clear and before long the sun started to come up over the buildings. It is unusual in the summer to be able to see the mountains to the west, but we had a … Continue reading Japan 2024 Day 2: Kawagoe furin festival & Takasaki daruma
In the days leading up to our flight we were getting worried, a massive typhoon was predicted to be hitting Japan the day we were due to land. We were flying out of London early on the 15th of August, so on the 14th we were rapdily refreshing the JAL and Haneda website to see … Continue reading Japan 2024 Day 1: Landing in Tokyo during a typhoon
It was an absolutely sweltering morning in Kanazawa, even though we were packed and out of the house by 7am, the humidity was intense. Our plan for the day was to get to our rental house in Kawaguchiko, some 200 miles away, with plenty of stops along the way. We couldn't leave Kanazawa without visitng … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 7: Kenroku-en, Ainokura & Gokoyama
We were out of our lovely townhouse before 7am so we could get to Higashi Chaya and experience the old town without any other tourists around. Even though it was so early the day was already incredibly humid, the Sea of Japan coast is hot!!! It didn't take too long to get to the tea … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 6: Fantastic Fukui
We wanted to be out of Hakuba nice and early, as we had a 130 mile drive to Kanazawa to make that day. We were out and about by 7am, and before leaving Hakuba, made one last attempt to see the alps and drove up to 天神坂 a viewpoint over some rice fields. Sadly the … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 5: Road-tripping through Niigata to Kanazawa
My Nihon 