Search this site

Online Ticket Bookings Special fares for domestic air tickets

Online Hostel Bookings Hostels and inexpensive ryokan from $10 per night!

Car Rentals Compact cars from around 4,000 Yen/day!

Related Pages

Travel Forum Schauwecker's Japan Travel Blog Scott's Japan Travel Journal Sean's Japan Travel Journal

Japan Sightseeing Guide

Hokkaido Sapporo Otaru Hakodate Asahikawa Furano Abashiri Noboribetsu Niseko Lake Toya Daisetsuzan Shiretoko Rishiri Rebun Akan Tohoku Sendai Matsushima Hiraizumi Akita Kakunodate Hachimantai Aomori Hirosaki Lake Towada Shimokita Hanto Dewa Sanzan Yamadera Aizu Bandai Kanto Tokyo Yokohama Kamakura Nikko Kinugawa Hakone Kawagoe Kusatsu Ikaho Minakami Oze Narita Ogasawara Chubu Nagoya Inuyama Mt.Fuji Fujigoko Izu Peninsula Shizuoka Hamanako Nagano Bessho Onsen Matsumoto Kamikochi Kiso Valley Hakuba Yamanouchi Sado Island Takayama Okuhida Shirakawa-go Gujo Gero Onsen Kanazawa Kaga Onsen Noto Peninsula Kansai Kyoto Osaka Nara Kobe Himeji Kinosaki Mount Koya Kumano Asuka Yoshino Amanohashidate Hikone Iga Ueno Ise Shima Chugoku Hiroshima Miyajima Onomichi Okayama Kurashiki Takahashi Inujima Tottori Daisen Matsue Iwami Ginzan Iwakuni Yamaguchi Hagi Shikoku Takamatsu Kotohira Naoshima Shodoshima Matsuyama Uchiko Kochi Tokushima Naruto Kyushu Fukuoka Dazaifu Arita Nagasaki Shimabara Kumamoto Mount Aso Kurokawa Minamata Beppu Yufuin Mount Kuju Miyazaki Takachiho Kagoshima Kirishima Satsuma Hanto Yakushima Okinawa Honto Kume Miyako Yaeyama

Survey

Have you visited Japan in the last 3 years? Yes No see results Other Surveys: Preferred Airport Favorite hotel reservation website Favorite travel guide books How to improve tourism Next trip to Japan Purpose of visit Most popular region Have you recently entered Japan?

japan-guide.com newsletter

Keeping you up to date on Japan travel and living related issues and site updates. Click here to subscribe!

Schauwecker's Japan Travel Blog by Stefan Schauwecker, webmaster of japan-guide.com This blog is intended to record some of my travel activities in Japan. 2011/12/31 - Travel Highlights 2011 Thrilled like a child, I enjoyed the ride with the Kurobe Gorge Railway into the mountains of Toyama Prefecture... read all 2011/12/13 - Autumn Color Report: Tokyo Three months after this year's first autumn color report from Hokkaido, I concluded the seasonal reporting with a grand tour to seven of Tokyo's best koyo spots. The capital's colors usually peak around late November and early... read all 2011/12/02 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto The sun shining into fall foliage can enhance colors from nice to brilliant. Unfortunately, the sun did not cooperate during this year's final autumn color report from Kyoto on which I made a grand tour of many of... read all 2011/12/01 - Autumn Color Report: Nara The great ancient temples of Nara, such as Todaiji, Kofukuji and Yakushiji, are characterized by gravel courts and giant temple halls rather than... read all 2011/11/30 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto As Kyoto remains at the peak of the autumn color season, I visited some lesser known koyo spots in the northeastern part of the city: Manshuin, Enkoji, Shinnyodo... read all 2011/11/27 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto One week after my last visit to Kyoto's Higashiyama District, I returned today to checked on the state of the fall leaves at Nanzenji,... read all 2011/11/23 - Autumn Color Report: Kanazawa After nearly a week of reporting in the Kansai Region, I am returning home today to take a short break from the autumn colors. Along the way, I made a quick stop in Kanazawa for our first ever koyo report from... read all 2011/11/22 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto On this third Kyoto report within five days I re-visited Arashiyama in the northwestern outskirts of the city. In some spots in the district the trees have progressed into brilliant colors... read all 2011/11/21 - Autumn Color Report: Miyajima Miyajima Island just outside of Hiroshima is not Japan's most outstanding fall foliage spot, but it does offer a moderate amount of colors that are currently around their peak and can further enhance a visit to the shrine... read all 2011/11/20 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto Today I visited multiple temples along the Higashiyama Mountains, starting at Tofukuji and ending at Eikando. The colors have not peaked yet at any of the temples,... read all 2011/11/18 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto Due to the warm weather of the past weeks, the autumn colors in Kyoto are lagging about ten days behind their average schedule, which is an even greater delay than last year, when they were also delayed. I expect the season to peak... read all 2011/11/13 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto As the fall colors (koyo) are gradually descending into the lower elevations of central Japan, we made our first visit to Kyoto. The peak of the season in central Kyoto... read all 2011/11/09 - Autumn Color Report: Sakurayama Sakurayama Park in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture, is home to one of the world's largest concentration of winter flowering cherries, a defiant cherry tree variety that prefers to bloom in winter rather than spring... read all 2011/11/08 - Autumn Color Report: Fujigoko At an elevation of roughly 1000 meters above sea level, the Fuji Five Lake (Fujigoko) region at Mount Fuji's northern base typically sees the seasonal foliage about three weeks earlier than... read all 2011/11/02 - Autumn Color Report: Mitakesan Autumn colors are not expected to descend into central Tokyo until the second half of November; however, they do have started to appear in Tokyo's mountains. Today, we visited one of Tokyo's mountains, the nearly 1000 meter high... read all 2011/10/27 - Autumn Color Report: Towadako This year's last autumn color report from the Tohoku Region comes from Lake Towada and Oirase Stream, a picturesque stream that flows out of the lake and down a... read all 2011/10/26 - Autumn Color Report: Hakkodasan On the first day of a 2-day autumn color trip to the northern Tohoku Region, we visited Mount Hakkoda (Hakkodasan), a volcano in Aomori Prefecture. The mountain lies along the road and JR bus line that connect Aomori City with Lake Towadako, from where we will... read all 2011/10/21 - Autumn Color Report: Fukushima Mount Bandai (Bandaisan) is a volcano in Fukushima Prefecture which last erupted in 1888 in one of the most violent volcanic eruptions in recent Japanese history, thereby newly shaping the mountain's peak and the Urabandai... read all 2011/10/20 - Autumn Color Report: Zao Located on the prefectural border between Yamagata and Miyagi Prefectures, Mount Zao is one of the highest mountains in the Tohoku Region, and therefore one of the first spots in the region to delight tourists... read all 2011/10/19 - Autumn Color Report: Naruko The Naruko Gorge is one of the Tohoku Region's most famous autumn color spots and usually at its peak in late October to early November. It can be reached in a twenty minute walk from... read all 2011/10/18 - Half A Year After The Tsunami A little bit over half a year after the tsunami, we revisited some of the worst hit cities along the Sanriku Coast. In most areas the debris has been sorted and collected into huge mountains, paving the way for reconstruction... read all 2011/10/13 - Tokyo Fall Colors? Fall colors in Tokyo are usually best around late November and early December. Nevertheless, I used my time between two appointments in Tokyo today to check on a couple of koyo spots... read all 2011/10/12 - Autumn Color Report: Nikko Nine days after my first visit, I returned to Nikko today to find the season to have progressed remarkably thanks to recent cold nights. The colors are now at their peak around... read all 2011/10/12 - Autumn Color Report: Oze Oze National Park is another good destination for early autumn colors near Tokyo. Shared mainly by Gunma and Fukushima Prefectures, the national park consists of a large marshland at 1400 meters... read all 2011/10/04 - Visit to the Sunshine Aquarium Three weeks ago I failed to visit the newly renovated Sunshine Aquarium in Ikebukuro. Today I got my revenge with a successful visit. There were no waiting times when I arrived at 4pm on this regular Tuesday, but the aquarium was,... read all 2011/10/03 - Autumn Color Report: Nikko Nikko National Park is one of the first places near Tokyo to see autumn colors. And thanks to its wide range in elevation, Nikko offer colors for a long period of over a month. In the average year, the coloring... read all 2011/09/27 - Two mountains in central Japan Below are some highlights from our recent report trip to Mount Norikuradake (3025 meters) and Mount Hakusan (2702 meters) in central Japan... read all 2011/09/15 - Furano in September After two wonderful autumn color reports from Daisetsuzan National Park yesterday and the day before yesterday, I quickly stopped by two popular tourist spots in the vicinity of Asahikawa Airport: the Aoiike (Blue Pond) and Farm... read all 2011/09/14 - Autumn Color Report: Ginsendai Today I parked my car in Sounkyo, took a shuttle bus to Ginsendai and hiked from there via Mount Akadake and Mount Hokkaisan to Mount Kurodake before descending back into Sounkyo. Located on the eastern side of the... read all 2011/09/13 - Autumn Color Report: Mount Asahidake Welcome to autumn 2011! Over the coming three months, the japan-guide.com team will take you again to autumn color spots across Japan and report on the leaves' current state. As always, we started reporting from... read all 2011/09/12 - Failed Visit to the Sunshine Aquarium Japan has the largest number of aquaria per capita. Tokyo alone has the Tokyo Sea Life Park in Kasai Rinkai Park, the Epson Aqua Stadium in Shinagawa and the Sunshine Aquarium in Ikebukuro in addition to several more in neighboring... read all 2011/07/15 - Hakata Gion Yamagasa Report Trip As a person with a disliking for big crowds, I have mixed feelings towards the reporting of festivals which often includes stressful competition for photo spots and hours of direct exposure to the summer heat. But some of Japan's... read all 2011/06/29 - Eastern Hokkaido Report Trip On a three day trip to Eastern Hokkaido, we checked on the current state of a few tourist spots in Shiretoko National Park which are subject to new regulations from this year. And we re-visited Lake Mashuko in nearby Akan National... read all 2011/06/01 - Ogasawara Report Trip This week I made my first visit to the Ogasawara Islands, Japan's most remote, inhabited islands. Despite being part of Tokyo, the islands are connected to the rest of the world only once per week by a 25 hour ship ride. Its two... read all 2011/05/18 - Kagoshima Report Trip The few weeks between the end of Golden Week in early May and the beginning of the rainy season in June are my favorite time of the year for traveling in Japan thanks to the absence of crowds, the pleasant weather and the attractive... read all 2011/04/30 - One Month After The Tsunami One and a half months after the March 11 disaster, good progress has been made on clearing major roads, recovering victims and reinstating the food supply. The self defense force and police from all over the country were... read all 2011/04/29 - After the Earthquake: A trip to Hiraizumi In time for the Golden Week holidays, the Tohoku Shinkansen reopened along its entire length today, making it much faster and easier to access the northern Tohoku Region... read all 2011/04/22 - Cherry Blossom Report: Aizu We spent the second and last day of our cherry blossom report trip to the southern Tohoku Region in Aizu, a popular tourist destination in Fukushima Prefecture, over 100 kilometers east of the Fukushima power plants. Tsuruga... read all 2011/04/21 - After the Earthquake: A trip to Matsushima Celebrated for one of Japan's three most scenic views, Matsushima is the best known tourist destination that got directly hit by last month's tsunami. Thanks to its location in a well protected bay within a bay, however, Matsushima... read all 2011/04/21 - Cherry Blossom Report: Sendai As the season progresses, the cherry blossoms are reaching the Tohoku Region and with it the areas worst hit by last month's earthquake and tsunami. Today we visited Sendai... read all 2011/04/20 - Cherry Blossom Report: Fujigoko Today I made this year's only cherry blossom report to the Fuji Five Lake region at the northern base of Mount Fuji. At an altitude of around 1000 meters, the trees are typically about two week behind those of nearby... read all 2011/04/17 - After the Earthquake: A trip to Nikko Located about 250 km from the earthquake's epicenter and 150 km from the Fukushima power plants, Nikko escaped damage from the tremors and remains safe from dangerous radiation. Scheduled blackouts, however, affected the town for... read all 2011/04/12 - Cherry Blossom Report: Okayama I wrapped up my 3-day reporting trip to Western Japan with the first ever cherry blossom report from Okayama, the second largest city in the Chugoku Region... read all 2011/04/11 - Cherry Blossom Report: Takamatsu On the final cherry blossom reporting trip to Shikoku this year, I visited four hanami spots in Kagawa Prefecture and its capital city Takamatsu. I started the reporting with an early morning visit to Kotohira... read all 2011/04/10 - Cherry Blossom Report: Matsuyama After a week of cherry blossom reporting from Honshu, I returned to Japan's fourth largest island of Shikoku today, visiting Matsuyama, the capital of Ehime Prefecture where full bloom was announced four days ago... read all 2011/04/07 - Cherry Blossom Report: Nagoya Today I made this year's only cherry blossom related visit to Nagoya, checking out three of the city's many attractive hanami spots. Furthermore, I took the opportunity to drop by a new railway museum, which had opened on March 14 just... read all 2011/03/31 - Cherry Blossom Report: Fukuoka The cherry blossoms are slowly approaching full bloom in southern areas on Japan's main islands. Among these places is Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu... read all 2011/03/29 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kyoto The cherry blossoms officially started to open in Kyoto yesterday and should progress into full bloom next week. I started this year's reporting from Kyoto at... read all 2011/03/28 - Cherry Blossom Report: Himeji Generally considered the best surviving original Japanese castle, Himeji Castle, is currently and for another four years undergoing extensive renovation works to its roof and... read all 2011/03/27 - Cherry Blossom Report: Tokyo The cherry blossoms have started to open on the southern islands of Shikoku and Kyushu over the past few days; however, I begin this year's reporting in Tokyo, where the blossoms are still officially closed... read all 2011/02/11 - Shiretoko Fantasia 2011 We concluded our winter reporting trip to Hokkaido with a visit to the Shiretoko Peninsula. Located on a geographical longitude comparable to Venice (Italy) or Portland (Oregon)... read all 2011/02/07 - Sapporo Snow Festival 2011 The 62nd Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) was opened today and will delight visitors to the city for the next seven days through Sunday, February 13, 2011. Below are some of our photos from our visit to the festival's main... read all 2010/12/15 - Travel Highlights 2010 During the past twelve months I had the pleasure to spend about a fifth of my time traveling through Japan and visiting 33 of Japan's 47 prefectures.... read all 2010/12/09 - Autumn Color Report: Tokyo Tokyo is among the last places in Japan to see autumn colors every year, with the peak of the season usually occurring around late November to early December. Tokyo is also... read all 2010/12/06 - Autumn Color Report: Kamakura Almost three months after this year's first autumn color report, the season is finally approaching its end. Today I visited Kamakura, one of the last places in Japan to see the leaves change colors. The season does not... read all 2010/12/01 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto After my first report from Kyoto three weeks ago and seven follow up reports by Scott and Francois, I visited the former capital for a last time this year to report about the autumn colors. On... read all 2010/11/19 - Autumn Color Report: Sakurayama Today I visited Sakurayama Park in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture, about 100 kilometers north of Tokyo. With its 7000 trees, Sakurayama (cherry mountain) is arguably Japan's most famous spot... read all 2010/11/17 - Autumn Color Report: Ise The Ise Shrines are not a destination well known for their autumn colors. Indeed, there are only a relatively small number of trees that turn colors on the grounds of the two shrines. Nevertheless, the few colorful patches of autumn... read all 2010/11/10 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto On our first trip to Kyoto this season, I checked on the early state of the city's autumn colors. As seen on previous report trips, the cold weather of recent weeks seemed to have decreased the delay of this year's autumn leaf season... read all 2010/10/19 - Autumn Color Report: Noboribetsu One month after my first autumn color report to Hokkaido, I returned to the northern island to check on the colors in Noboribetsu, a popular hot spring resort in southern... read all 2010/10/15 - Autumn Color Report: Hachimantai Today we continued our trip through Towada-Hachimantai National Park, where we checked on the autumn colors around the hot springs of Tamagawa Onsen and Goshogake... read all 2010/10/14 - Autumn Color Report: Akita Due to warmer than usual temperatures, the autumn colors remain about 7-10 days behind their average year's schedule, and can currently be enjoyed in many areas of Hokkaido and in the high mountains of northern and central... read all 2010/09/15 - Autumn Color Report: Mount Kurodake On the second and final day of my initial autumn color trip of the season, I climbed Mount Kurodake, another peak of the Daisetsuzan mountain range... read all 2010/09/14 - Autumn Color Report: Mount Asahidake For the third year in a row, we start the reporting from Mount Asahidake, Hokkaido's highest peak and the first place in Japan to see autumn colors each year... read all 2010/05/14 - Cherry Blossom Report: Hakodate The last cherry blossom report of the year brought me to Hakodate near the southern tip of Hokkaido where the flowering season is currently in full swing... read all 2010/05/13 - Cherry Blossom Report: Matsumae The cherry blossom front has finally reached Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, where trees started to open their blossoms last week, several days behind their average schedule due to a cold April... read all 2010/05/06 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kakunodate On the second and final day of my cherry blossom report to the northern Tohoku Region, I visited Kakunodate, a small city in Akita Prefecture, known for its beautifully preserved samurai district and its... read all 2010/05/05 - Cherry Blossom Report: Hirosaki One month after the peak of the hanami season in central and southern Japan, the cherry blossom front has reached the northern tip of Honshu. On a 2-day trip to the northern Tohoku Region I will be reporting from the... read all 2010/04/25 - Cherry Blossom Report: Takizakura After a two week break from the blossoms, I resumed the seasonal reporting from Northern Japan today with a visit to the Miharu Takizakura, a single weeping cherry tree in Fukushima Prefecture... read all 2010/04/07 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kamakura While Scott and Francois will continue to report a few more days from the Kansai and Kanto regions, my visit to Kamakura today concluded the first part of the season's reporting for me. I will resume my hunt for cherry blossoms in more... read all 2010/04/06 - Cherry Blossom Report: Inuyama Today I visited Inuyama, a small city just north of Nagoya, which attracts tourists with a handful of relatively interesting sights, including an old feudal castle, an excellent open air museum and lots of cherry trees... read all 2010/04/05 - Cherry Blossom Report: Hikone Hikone is a small city on the shores of Japan's largest lake, Biwako, less than an hour east of Kyoto by train along the JR Biwako Line... read all 2010/04/04 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kyoto Warm and sunny weather has caused cherry trees to burst into full bloom in many cities across Honshu yesterday, including in Kyoto, where I check out Nijo Castle, Kyoto Botanical... read all 2010/04/03 - Cherry Blossom Report: Miyajima I have been looking forward to the Miyajima cherry blossom report for a while and was happy to see the weather further improve in time for my visit. The shrine island near Hiroshima has been one of my favorite places in Japan... read all 2010/04/02 - Cherry Blossom Report: Hiroshima On this year's only cherry blossom report to Hiroshima I was able to confirm that like many other major places on Honshu, the city has entered the best viewing period of this year's cherry blossom season... read all 2010/03/30 - Cherry Blossom Report: Nagoya Just four days after Francois' first report from Nagoya, I stopped by the city on my way to Western Japan for a second cherry blossom report... read all 2010/03/27 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kyoto Temperatures in Kyoto have been unseasonally low in recent days with daytime highs six degrees below the average. As a result, the cherry blossoms have made almost no progress since my first report... read all 2010/03/26 - Cherry Blossom Report: Nara Cherry blossoms in Nara were reported to have opened six days ago on March 20. But due to unusually cool weather in recent days, the blossoms' progress has been rather unspectacular so far... read all 2010/03/26 - Cherry Blossom Report: Himeji This spring offers the last opportunity until the year 2014 to see the main tower of Himeji Castle in combination with cherry blossoms. From April 12 of this year, the castle's interior will be closed to the public and... read all 2010/03/23 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kyoto Cherry blossoms in Kyoto were reported to have opened on March 19 this year, twelve days ahead of their average schedule. Today I made a first report trip to the old capital to check on the blossoms' progress... read all 2010/02/22 - Guu Restaurant, Vancouver Formerly known as Raku, Guu is to my knowledge Vancouver's first authentic izakaya. Once inside, you could be as well in Shibuya. The atmosphere is very lively with the staff greeting customers and shouting orders... read all 2010/02/19 - Zakkushi, Vancouver Today we visited Zakkushi, the pioneering restaurant to introduce Vancouver to kushiyaki, skewered foods grilled over charcoal. Zakkushi opened in summer 2004 at 823 Denman Street and has opened two more locations... read all 2010/02/14 - Hapa Izakaya, Vancouver When Hapa Izakaya opened in 2003 at Robson Street, it was one of the first establishments to introduce original Japanese dishes in an izakaya atmosphere to Vancouver. Today, their Robson location is three times as large... read all 2010/02/09 - Yuji's Japanese Tapas, Vancouver For the third night in a row, we checked out one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Vancouver. Today we paid a visit to Yuji's Japanese Tapas in Kitsilano, whose predecessor, Taka Sushi, used to be... read all 2010/02/08 - Miku Restaurant, Vancouver Miku is another newcomer among Vancouver's leading Japanese restaurants. It opened in November 2008 at 1055 West Hastings Street, not far from Canada Place... read all 2010/02/07 - Shuraku Restaurant, Vancouver Today we visited the relatively new Shuraku Restaurant in downtown Vancouver, which opened in summer 2008. It was my first visit, and the restaurant quickly joined my list of personal favorites... read all 2009/12/31 - Travel Highlights 2009 I spent about a fifth of the past year on report trips through Japan, on which I had the pleasure to ski in Hokkaido, witness the cherry blossom season start in Kyushu, cycle from Honshu to Shikoku, snorkel in Okinawa... read all 2009/12/08 - Autumn Color Report: Tokyo A quarter of a year after the first autumn color report, we concluded this year's reporting with a final trip to Tokyo where the season is still in full swing. We started our tour of Tokyo at the Imperial East Gardens... read all 2009/12/02 - Autumn Color Report: Kamakura Among the last regions of Japan to see autumn colors are not only the southern tips of Japan's southern main islands of Shikoku and Kyushu, but also the greater Tokyo area. Today we visited Kamakura, one train hour south of Tokyo... read all 2009/11/24 - Research in Nara Prefecture On research trips, we typically take 200 to 500 photos per day. On particularly picturesque days, the total number of photos can approach or exceed 1000, as experienced on trips such as to the Kanto and Nebuta Festivals... read all 2009/11/18 - Autumn Color Report: Tokyo Tokyo may not be known as an autumn color destination like Kyoto, but the city does offer quite a few nice spots for fall foliage in its parks and gardens. Today we went to check out three of them. We started the day at the Former Furukawa Garden (Kyu-Furukawa Teien)... read all 2009/11/12 - Autumn Color Report: Kyoto Two months after this year's first autumn leaf report, the seasonal colors are finally descending into lower elevations of central Japan. Today, I made a first visit to Kyoto from where we will be reporting... read all 2009/11/09 - Autumn Color Report: Fuji Five Lakes Around Tokyo, colors are currently best at altitudes of around 1000 meters, and that is where we headed today. For the second time this season, we paid a visit to Mount Fuji and the the Fuji Five Lakes... read all 2009/10/16 - Autumn Color Report: Onuma Park I concluded my 3-day autum leaf report through Southern Hokkaido with a visit to Onuma Quasi National Park just north of Hakodate. The park is easily accessible by train and is centered around two lakes... read all 2009/10/15 - Autumn Color Report: Noboribetsu Onsen I spent the second day of my 3-day autumn leaf report trip to Southern Hokkaido in Noboribetsu Onsen, one of Japan's best hot spring resorts. Noboribetsu is blessed with a beautiful jigokudani ("hell valley")... read all 2009/10/14 - Autumn Color Report: Shikotsu-Toya National Park After several reports from Japan's main island of Honshu, I returned once more to the northern island of Hokkaido to check on the autumn colors as they are gradually reaching lower elevations there... read all 2009/09/30 - Autumn Color Report: Kusatsu Onsen Today we drove along Japan's highest national route, Route 292, which connects Shiga Kogen in Nagano Prefecture with Kusatsu Onsen, one of the country's best hot spring resorts in Gunma Prefecture... read all 2009/09/16 - Autumn Color Report: Tokachidake Onsen We spent the last night of our 3-day Hokkaido report trip at the Ryounkaku mountain lodge in Tokachidake Onsen, a small hot spring resort in the southwest of Daisetsuzan National Park, not far from Furano... read all 2009/09/15 - Autumn Color Report: Ginsendai Today I visited Ginsendai, another famous autumn color spot in Hokkaido's Daisetsu National Park. Reached via a 15 kilometer unpaved road and consisting of little more than a parking space and an information center, Ginsendai is a base in... read all 2009/09/14 - Autumn Color Report: Mount Asahidake Asahidake is Hokkaido's tallest mountain and the first place in Japan to see autumn colors each year. Therefore, we selected it as the first destination of our autumn color reports like in the previous year... read all 2009/07/14 - Furano Lavender in full bloom The lavender fields in Furano, Hokkaido, are now in full bloom. read all 2009/04/16 - Cherry Blossom Report: Fuji Five Lakes Reporting from Lake Kawaguchi. read all 2009/04/09 - Cherry Blossom Report: Nagoya Reporting from the Yamazakigawa Riverside. read all 2009/04/08 - Cherry Blossom Report: Yoshino Reporting from Yoshinoyama. read all 2009/04/07 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kyoto Reporting from Arashiyama, the Philosopher\'s Path, the Keage Incline, Maruyama Park and Kiyomizudera. read all 2009/04/06 - Cherry Blossom Report: Osaka Reporting from Osaka Castle, Kema Sakuranomiya Park, the Expo 70 Commemorative Park and Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park. read all 2009/04/03 - Cherry Blossom Report: Yokohama Reporting from Mitsuike Park, Sankeien, Negishi Forest Park and Mitsuzawa Park. read all 2009/03/30 - Cherry Blossom Report: Nagoya Reporting from Nagoya Castle, Yamazaki River and Tsuruma Park. read all 2009/03/25 - Cherry Blossom Report: Kyoto Reporting from the Philosopher\'s Path, Maruyama Park, Heian Shrine, Okazaki Canal and the Keage Incline. read all 2009/02/27 - Rainy Izu Peninsula Cherry blossoms, sea cucumber walls and a spectacular open air bath. read all 2009/02/26 - Cherry Blossoms in Kawazu Early hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in Kawazu Town on the Izu Peninsula. read all 2008/11/20 - Miyajima This year's western most autum leaf report brought me to Miyajima, the scenic island off Hiroshima. read all 2008/11/18 - Mino Park Autumn colors have finally descended into lower elevations and southern latitudes of Japan. Today, I visited Mino Park, one of Osaka's most popular koyo spots. read all 2008/11/12 - Fuji Five Lakes Great autumn colors but no weather luck on this report trip to Fujigoko (Fuji Five Lakes). read all 2008/10/28 - Shirakami Sanchi (2) Second day of our visit to Shirakami Sanchi, site of Japan's last virgin beech forests. read all 2008/10/27 - Shirakami Sanchi Autumn visit to one of Japan's least known world heritage sites, Shirakami Sanchi in the northern Tohoku region. read all 2008/10/16 - Nikko Observing autumn colors along the hiking trails of Oku-Nikko. read all 2008/10/10 - Akagiyama On my first autumn leaf trip to a destination in the Kanto Region this year, I visited Akagiyama in Gunma Prefecture. read all 2008/10/08 - Shiretoko Peninsula Viewing autumn colors on the Shiretoko Peninsula, a World Natural Heritage Site and one of Japan's wildest and most beautiful national parks. read all 2008/09/26 - Sounkyo Onsen Today I went to check out autumn colors in Sounkyo Onsen and Mount Kurodake above it. read all 2008/09/25 - Daisetsu Kogen Onsen Kogen Onsen's most popular attraction is a circular hiking course through the area's pond dotted highlands. read all 2008/09/24 - Mount Asahidake Mount Asahidake in Daisetsuzan National Park is Hokkaido's highest mountain and the first spot in Japan to see autumn colors (and snow). read all 2007/12/08 - Arashiyama Hanatoro From December 8 to 17, Kyoto's pleasant Arashiyama district remains crowded even after sunset, as lanes are lined by lanterns, ikebana works are exhibited in the streets, and forests and temples are lit up. read all 2007/04/12 - Kanazawa's wealth of attractions Almost four years after my last visit, I headed to Kanazawa with the purpose of collecting new material for the improvement of the Kanazawa sightseeing guide at japan-guide.com. read all 2007/04/04 - Sanyo Coast in Full Bloom I tried to coincide this trip to Hiroshima, Miyajima and Iwakuni with the peak of the cherry blossom season. Luckily, the sakura forecasts proved to be accurate. read all 2007/02/28 - Niseko and the Australian invasion Niseko is a ski resort on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, famous for excellent powder snow and for its big popularity among foreign visitors. read all 2007/02/27 - Cassiopeia Night Train The Cassiopeia is a night train, connecting Tokyo with Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. read all 2007/01/31 - Cherry Blossoms in Okinawa In the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, cherry trees start flowering as early as late January to early February. read all 2007/01/26 - Skiing in Naeba The resort is dominated by the huge Naeba Prince Hotel complex, which offers more than 1000 guest rooms directly at the bottom of the ski slopes. read all 2006/12/03 - Chichibu Festival Today I went to see the Chichibu Festival, which is held every year on December 2 and 3 in the small city of Chichibu in the mountains of western Saitama Prefecture. read all 2006/12/02 - Tanigawa Onsen (Minakami) Tanigawa Onsen is one of several hot spring resorts within the municipality of Minakami Town in northern Gunma Prefecture. The small resort town is located at the foot of Mount Tanigawa. read all 2006/11/26 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (11): Hotel Report While the autumn leaves were the main objective of our stay in Kyoto, a second objective was to get familiar with some of the city's leading hotels and ryokan. read all 2006/11/25 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (10) Today was the last day of our Kyoto autumn color report tour. Our only koyo related activity was a visit to Kinkakuji. read all 2006/11/24 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (9) In the morning, we visited Yoshiminedera, a spacious temple complex, built into the slopes of Kyoto's western mountains (Nishiyama). read all 2006/11/23 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (8) The upcoming weekend will be the peak of this year's autumn leaf travel activities in Kyoto, but many spots are expected to remain in a beautiful state for at least another week. read all 2006/11/22 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (7) With a delay of about one week with respect to the average year, the autumn leaf season is now approaching its peak in central Kyoto. read all 2006/11/21 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (6) With disbelief we noticed today that the autumn leaf information board at the tourist office in Kyoto Station has not been updated for five days. read all 2006/11/20 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (5) The weather remained overcast today with occasional showers. We visited the Sento Imperial Palace in the morning and Ohara in the afternoon. After dinner, we enjoyed lit up autumn colors. read all 2006/11/19 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (4) It was raining today and I spent the afternoon working in the hotel room. In the morning I walked from Kiyomizudera to Gion and visited Kiyomizudera and Kodaiji. read all 2006/11/18 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (3): Takao Today I made my first trip to Takao, a small temple town in a wooded valley in the mountains north of Kyoto, famous for autumn leaves. read all 2006/11/17 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (2): Hieizan Today we went to Hieizan (Mount Hiei), one of the few spots in and around Kyoto where autumn leaves are reported to have fully changed colors already. read all 2006/11/16 - Kyoto Autumn Color Report (1) The second half of November is usually the best time to enjoy the colorful autumn leaves in Kyoto. During the next nine days, I will use this blog to report about this year's autumn leaf season in Kyoto. read all 2006/11/08 - Shima Onsen Shima Onsen is a hot spring town in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture, attractively located along the river of a wooded valley. The timing was good for viewing autumn colors. read all 2006/10/25 - Autumn colors at Mount Tanigawa Today I made my first visit to Minakami Town in northern Gunma Prefecture. The trip's objectives: autumn color viewing around Mount Tanigawa and hot spring bathing at Takaragawa Onsen. read all

Advertisements