It’s an early start for temple stay (宿坊). At our temple Daien-in (大圓院) the morning religious service (朝の勤行) begins at 5:50 am, lasting for about an hour. It is of course not mandatory and guests can join at any time. […]
After visiting Kumano Hongu Shrine, we continued driving north on Route 168, heading for Gojo. There we would change to public transport, which is the most convenient way to reach Koyasan. This part of Route 168 runs through the middle […]
20 minute drive from Kawayu Onsen brought us to Kumano Hongu Shrine (熊野本宮大社). You can find “Kumano Shrines” (熊野神社) all over Japan, and this is the head shrine. This is also one of the three grand shrines of Kumano, known […]
A packed itinerary today – leaving Shingu (新宮) early in the morning, we would first drop by two interesting hot springs: Yunomine and Tsuboyu, before getting to Kumano Hongu Shrine (熊野本宮大社). Then moving inland along the Tosukawa River (十津川) valley […]
The second part of our trip would be to various sites on the Kumano Kodo (熊野古道) pilgrimage routes. We had some good rest at Pension Dolphin (after the overnight bus previous day), and woke up to a beautiful sea view […]
Ise city is reasonably easy to access from Tokyo, with Shikansen plus express train it can be reached in just over 3 hours. But as usual to save cost and maximise sight-seeing time given limited vacation days, we took an […]
The G7 Summit 2016 in Ise-shima (伊勢志摩) was all the rage in Japan (not?). Several heads of states having a chat and nothing in the world would change after that. Anyway, the event probably made Ise a bit more well […]
It’s already the final day of our trip! After travelling in Tottori for the past two days, today was for Shimane prefecture (島根県). In fact we only had until around 4 pm, so time was definitely tight, but at least […]
Mount Daisen (大山) in Tottori is the highest mountain in the region at over 1700 metres. It’s not really the right time for hiking, but as it’s also a popular place for autumn colours, we would try our chance today, […]
The overnight train journey on the Sunrise Izumo (サンライズ出雲) was certainly a highlight of the trip, but it was just the beginning! We got off at Matsue (松江) which is the capital city of the Shimane prefecture (島根県). This would […]
For long distance travelling in Japan, the once prevalent overnight sleeper trains are now near extinction, and the fast Shinkansen bullet trains, domestic flights, and bargain overnight highway buses are the norm. As of mid-2015, there remained only 4 regular […]
The Sanin region mainly refers to the prefectures Shimane (島根県) and Tottori (鳥取県), which aren’t really well known tourist destinations. Getting off the beaten tracks is of course always an attraction to us, but our decision to go there this […]
Concluding our trip was the annual Omagai Fireworks (大曲の花火). It is considered as one of the top three firework events in Japan. We’ve had probably more than enough “top threes” in this trip so far, but more than just a […]
Final day of the trip, the main event would be the Omagari Fireworks (大曲の花火), but before going there, we would take a look around Lake Tazawa (田沢湖) and Kakunodate (角館). Breakfast at That Sound’s Good. Rain started yesterday and still […]
Leaving Juniko in Aomori, we headed into Akita prefecture (秋田県), the last of this Northeast Japan trip. Driving was the sole activity in the afternoon, to cover the 150 km to our stay tonight, at Inn That Sound’s Good, which is […]
Shirakami-Sanchi (白神山地) refers to the mountain area in the southwest of Aomori prefecture (青森県). Part of it is a designated World Heritage natural site for the unspoiled woodland. For the outdoor-inclined, there’s no shortage of hiking opportunities, but we would […]
Leaving Cape Shiriya (尻屋崎), we made a u-turn back to the south. There’s quite a long drive ahead – over 200km. The plan was to visit Mount Iwaki (岩木山) – about 190 km to the base – going past Aomori […]
Cape Shiriya (尻屋崎) is the grazing ground of its local breed of horse, Kandatsume (寒立馬), and the area is free for visitors to enter. Kandatsume horses look a bit different to the normal horses with their thick bodies and legs, […]
Cape Oma (大間崎) is the northern-most point of Honshu (本州最北端), Japan’s main island. This is perhaps less of a significance than the northern-most point of Japan, but with our goal of travelling all over Japan, still a place not to […]
We were getting to the northern-most section of our Northeast Japan trip. Osorezan (恐山) (literally: fear mountain) was our first destination. It is one of the “top three spiritual sites” (三大霊場) in Japan, but no worry if you’re not into […]