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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The seafood barbecue was the main event for the day. Then it was a 1.5 hour train ride from Hachinohe (八戸) to Aomori City (青森市), where we would be staying tonight. With some free time to spend, we paid a […]

From Iwate (岩手県) we moved on to the next prefecture, Aomori (青森県). On the northern end of Honshu (Japan’s mainland) surrounded by the sea on three sides, Aomori is a major producer of seafood. While the food was a bit […]

Going further north, we spent one day in Iwate prefecture (岩手県). Including transport this was a short time, but weather forecast for the day was rainy, which made it not such a good idea to go to one of the […]

Matsushima (松島) is known as one of the “best three views of Japan” (日本三景). Literally it means “pine island”, and indeed just off the coast there are dozens of islands or various sizes, interestingly all covered with pine trees. From […]

Our destination for the first half of today was Yamadera (山寺). This means returning to Yamagata prefecture (山形県), but it’s actually just one hour by train from Sendai (仙台). Yamadera actually is just a common name for the temple complex Risshakuji […]

Japan has all sorts of animal places – rabbit island, cat islands (multiple of them), town where deer roam free. And near Zao there is a “fox village”. OK, it’s not a village where people live, but more like a […]

Our sightseeing began today – from Yamaga City we headed towards the prefecture border of Miyagi (宮城県) for Mount Zao (蔵王). Zao is a popular ski resort and its winter “ice monster”  is a famous sight, but it’s summer now […]