Japan 2017
- Our first visit to Japan was a four week trip during spring, focused in the southern half of Honshu (the main island). It was fantastic.
- Arrival in Tokyo was timed to coincide with the cherry blossom festival called hanami. We had a week in Tokyo enjoying the festivities, seeing the main sites, and admiring the architecture.
- Spending the first week in Tokyo meant we could get by on a 21-day Japan Rail Pass for the rest of the trip. It provided great value.
- First we headed northwest to the mountain village of Takayama for a lovely ryokan experience, then southwest to Kyoto. We spent a week marvelling at the World Heritage sites in Kyoto, and nearby Nara.
- From there we headed into the Kii Mountains to Koya-san and stayed in a Buddhist monastery. Crossing to the north coast we then stayed in the onsen town of Kinosaki for a bathhouse experience.
- We crossed back to the south coast and spent several nights in the city of Okayama. We chose it as base to explore Himeji Castle, Kurashiki, and the ‘art island’ of Naoshima. Plus its own famous garden of Koraku-en. Okayama proved to be a highlight.
- Last stop was Hiroshima. From there we caught the train back to Tokyo (Narita) airport and flew home. Vowing to get back to Japan as soon as we could.
Tokyo 2017
We left home in Hobart early on a Saturday morning and landed in Tokyo (Narita) at 7 pm that evening. Caught the train into the city. We'd booked a hotel on the edge of Ueno Park so as to get full exposure to the cherry blossom festival and it turned out to be a great location....
Takayama
On our first real Japan Rail journey we caught the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Toyama, then the Limited Express to Takayama. Checked into our ryokan with a room overlooking the river. We had a walk around Takayama to get our bearings, then donned yakuta, bathed, and were fed...
Kyoto and Nara
Caught the train from Takayama to Kyoto, via Nagoya. Settled in to our townhouse (called a machiya) conveniently located just south of the main station. It was great to have some space to spread out and be in Japanese style accommodation. Learning to respect the tatami mats,...
Koya-san
We booked two nights in Koya-san, staying at the Yochi-in Buddhist monastery. It takes four trains and a cable car to get from Kyoto to Koya-san, so we used a baggage service to transfer our big bags on to Kinosaki (next stop) and travelled light for a couple of days. It was a...
Kinosaki
After an early ceremony and breakfast at the Buddhist monastery in Koya-san, it took most of the day to transit to Kinosaki. We wanted to visit a proper onsen town and Kinosaki looked like a good choice in the region we'd chosen to travel. The fact that it's on the Sea of Japan...
Okayama
We used the baggage service to send our big bags from Kinosaki to Okayama, freeing us to make best use of the transit day by visiting the World Heritage Himeji Castle. So many buildings in Japan have been destroyed by fire, earthquake and war. Himeji-jo is the finest surviving...
Hiroshima
We all know why Hiroshima is famous. It's for a terrible reason. Seeing the A-Bomb Dome for the first time is undeniably striking. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, planned and designed by Kenzo Tange, is visited by more than a million people each year. The memorials are...
