The first days of our Tohoku trip were spent at the Pacific side of the country. The second part of our road trip however led us back into the inner parts of the country, to the prefecture of Yamagata. This prefecture is known for its agricultural products, especially cherries, great hot springs, an overall rural flair and scenic beauty. It offers a totally different atmosphere and it felt quite remote, compared to the vibrant areas of Miyagi that we visited.
Tohoku, the northern part of Japan’s main island Honshu is an area that is not visited by too many tourists but has a lot to offer: stunning views, beautiful nature, lively cities and lots of historical sites. I always wanted to travel to this area and finally, we found the time to do it. In this and the following post, I’ll tell you all about our six day road trip into the North of Japan!
The summer heat has arrived and life in Kanazawa has become extremely tough. Therefore we decided to make a plan to escape this heat, even though it was only for a short while. A four day holiday period end of July offered a good opportunity to bring this plan into action. With a very short planning time (only several hours) we enjoyed our two day road trip, covering Gifu and Nagano prefecture with lots of scenic viewing spots and good food!
Japan is famous for its breathtaking beaches among the Pacific or Japan Sea shore. But, not many people know that you can also find one of the oldest lakes in the world in Japan! In this post, I’ll tell you all about our one day trip to Lake Biwa.
About Lake Biwa Lake Biwa or Biwako, as it’s called in Japanese, is a 4 million years old lake, located in the central part of Japan’s main island Honshu, north of Kyoto, in Shiga Prefecture.
I recently discovered a hidden and very breathtaking scenery - five lakes and the sea, all in different shades of blue - that is only a two hour drive away from Kanazawa. Read more about our day trip to the five lake area of Mikata Go Ko in this post.
About Mitaka Goko Mikata Goko (which means “five Lakes of Mikata”) in Mikatakaminaka County is the category name for the following five lakes: Lake Mikata, Lake Suigetsu, Lake Suga, Lake Kugushi, and Lake Hiruga.
Everytime I visit Noto peninsula I discover new things. The remote countryside of northern Ishikawa offers not only beautiful landscapes but also tiny villages, rural Japanese atmosphere, delicous food and the feeling of being in a completely different Japan that you are used to. Also, Noto will always surprise you and you’ll defenitely end up detouring as there are so many things to disvoer. This time, we planned to visit some landmarks of the Westcoast.
Did you ever think that walking through high snowwalls in May could be possible? No? Well, let me tell you all about my snowy adventure at Mount Tateyama! I am sure that the pictures will amaze you.
About Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route Mt. Tateyama is one of Japan’s three holy mountains along with Mt. Fuji and Hakusan. In the past, people imagined that they were having a direct view into the underworld and that the highest point of Mt.
Finally we have been experiencing a sunny weather period in Kanazawa! Despite being very busy with our work, we try to use every free day for some outdoor adventure as it’s so rare that there is no rain. There are so many beautiful flowers everywhere, turning the whole area from grey and dull into a beautiful paradise. On one particular warm and sunny Saturday, we decided to finally go to the mountainside and cycle on the famous Tedorigawa Canyon Road.
Did you know that there are wild monkeys in Japan that enjoy a hot bath in an outdoor onsen during cold winter days and you can even watch them from a close distance? Read all about our short winter trip to Nagano prefecture in this post!
Nagano prefecture Nagano prefecture is a landlocked prefecture in the central part of Honshu. It borders more prefectures than any other in Japan and contains the point that is furthest away from the sea in the whole country.
Hey everyone, as the winter days in Hokuriku area are usually grey and full of snow or rain, it was a wonderful surprise to experience one sunny day last weekend. As we wanted to do something special, we decided to rent a car and drive to the famous world heritage village Shirakawa-Go in Gifu Prefecture. Already in 2019, one week after we arrived in Japan, we visited the “sister village” Gokayama, which lies about 15 kilometers north of Shirakawa-Go (refresh your memory here).
