Shibukawa Ikaho Onsen’s Hawaii connection
Ikaho Onsen is a hot spring town about 2.5 hours by bus from Tokyo (Buster Shinjuku bus terminal in Shinjuku Station). It’s on the way to the famous Kusatsu Onsen…
Nyuto Onsen, Akita
Nyuto Onsen is a remote, hot spring enclave in the mountains along a river. There’s a variety of hot spring baths, both indoors and outdoors. Very rustic and charming in…
Tower of the Sun, Expo ’70 Commemorative Park, Suita, Osaka
Over half a century ago in 1970, Japan held the biggest and grandest world exposition the world had ever seen. It was Expo ’70 in Suita, Osaka from March to…
Shimanami Kaido Highway, Ehime
Ehime is in Shikoku facing the picturesque Seto Inland Sea. In 1999, a series of bridges and highways hopping over small islands across the Inland Sea connected Shikoku and Honshu.…
Touring Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa
Noto Peninsula (Noto Hanto) is a large, scenic peninsula jutting into the Sea of Japan like a dorsal fin. Lots of tourist sights, but the train line goes only halfway…
Mt. Sakurajima, Kagoshima
Japan being such a mountainous country, there are bound to be prefectures with a famous mountain as its main symbol. Mt. Fuji for Shizuoka, Mt. Aso for Kumamoto, and for…
Miyazaki Prefecture’s 1960s honeymoon boom
Miyazaki Prefecture’s most prominent natural feature are these neat parallel rows or grooves of pockmarked, platform rock nicknamed the “Devil’s Washboard” (鬼の洗濯板). They are uplifted wave-cut platforms (隆起波食台) formed by…
Aokigahara Forest, Fuji Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi
An ordinary-looking forest in Japan (upper right photo). Nothing spooky about it right? Right. It’s only Aokigahara Forest, a beautiful forest on the northwestern foot/slope of Mt. Fuji. However, it…