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
We had a few hikes planned for this summer trip, the reason for coming back to Japan in summer again, including two two-day hikes so we felt like we needed a warm-up hike. We wanted to go back to Gunma and I had learned of the hyakumeizan (one hundred famous mountains of Japan) and I … Continue reading Japan 2024 Day 3: Climbing Tanigawadake aka Death Mountain
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
Our original departure time was 11:20am, but once JAL had updated their flights with the longer route, we were scheduled to leave at 9:25am. With needing to be at the airport three hours before take-off we had no morning left before needing to leave the hotel. We always stay at Hotel JAL City Haneda, about … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 15: Flying home from Haneda
It was a sad day, the day we left Kawaguchiko. We woke up to a white sky and no Mount Fuji in sight, but checking the webcams from higher altitudes showed Fuji wasn't completely covered. We rushed to the car and drove straight up the nearby mountain. Just in case the clouds changed their minds … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 14: Goodbye to Mount Fuji, hello Tokyo
The alarm went off at 3am, it was still pitch black outside, and time to get ready for a really important day, when we finally try to reach the summit of Mount Fuji. We had chosen the Subashiri trail for our ascent, which is one of the least popular trails with only 8% of climbers … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 11: Climbing Mount Fuji via the Subashiri trail
We woke to a cloudy sky, the webcams showed that even at altitue Fuji was hiding and so we had a slower morning than usual. For a few moments Fuji did appear in a gap in the clouds, but before we could get out of the house, she was gone again. With the weather saying … Continue reading Japan 2023 Summer Day 10: Seeing Mount Fuji & a bear scare
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
We had one day in Tokyo on this trip in order to recover between the northern and central legs of our trip. My aim for this day was to meet a new friend and to see plum blossom. We had a slow morning, which was the first for our trip, and met my lovely friend … Continue reading Japan 2023 Winter Day 9: A rainy Tokyo day
My Nihon 