John Harvey Photo

A Second Trip to Japan




Eric, a good friend of mine, is teaching English in Kumamoto on the southern most of the major island Kyushu, and has generously offered to put people up.  It's been two years since my last trip to Japan, Mark worked a coop term in Japan some 7 years ago, and Andrea and David wanted to see Japan, so we had trip - see the great destinations in Japan while at the same time trying to explore a bit more of the obscure and off the tourist path.  Click along the route map, or the descriptions below to see where we stayed and what we saw.

Our Trip to Japan


Kurokawa Hot Spring and Takachiho Gorge Tokyo Nikko Matsumoto Amanohashadate Kyoto Food Hiroshima Miyajima Beppu Welcome To Kumamoto Aso Volcano to Oguni Village
Pond In Park

Kumamoto

Terribly jet lagged, we were glad to have Eric's house to stay at.  We visited the Suizenji-koen Garden, Kumamoto castle and became familiar with life in Japan.
(Days 1-3)
Oguni Village North

Aso Volcano to Oguni Village

We start on our travel part of the trip.  We visited Aso Volcano (which was having a gassy day) and then stayed overnight in Oguni Village - a wonderful hot springs town.
(Day 4)
Eggs Cooking

Kurokawa and Takachiho

Kurohawa Hot Springs is a collection of traditional hot spring baths and inns and Takachiho Gorge is an amazing place to go for a row.  Two of the great destinations in Kyushu.
(Day 5,6)
Blue Pool of Hell

Beppu

Our last stop in Kyushu - Beppu is a major tourist city.  We visited the rope way and the boiling hells.
(Day 7)
A Bomb Memorial

Hiroshima

In retrospect, we should have spent more time in this beautiful city.  We visited the Atom Bomb memorial and a bit of night life.
(Day 8)
Floating Arch O-torii

Miyajima

One of Japan's most scenic views.  We also visited Kintai-kyo bridge is in the small town Iwakuni.
(Day 9)
Dessert

Food In Kyoto

Kyoto is famous for many things - not the least of which is the food.  While staying at traditional Japanese Inn's (Ryokan) we sampled (and photographed) traditional food.  We also visited Kyoto's Nishiki-koji Street Market.
(Day 10,11)
Sea of Silver Sand

Temples Kyoto

We visited Three of the Biggest - The Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji), The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) and the dry gardens of Ryoan-ji.
(Day 12)
Parade Walking Past Torches

Festival in Kyoto

The Kyoto area has two festivals that coincide with October 22nd - the Festival of Ages and the Fire Festival in Kurama.  We managed to visit both.
(Day 13)
Clothes For Ryokan

Amanohashadate

We stayed in Genmyoan one of Japans high end traditional inns and took in the view, one of the three most scenic views in Japan.
(Day 14)
Trimmed Wasabi

Matsumoto

Matsumoto was picked because it was the mid point between Amanohashadate and Nikko. We visited the black castle and went for bike ride in the country to see a Wasabi farm.
(Day 15,16,17)
Homitsushaku Kongo

The Temples and Shrines in Nikko

Nikko is our last stop before Tokyo.  Nikko is famous for it's massive complex of shrines set in the forest and hills around the town, and one of my favorite places in Japan.
(Day 18)
Kegon Falls

Kegon Falls at Nikko

Nikko's second big attraction is the Kegon falls and the colors the trees change in fall.
(Day 19)
Metropolitan From Observing Deck

Tokyo

Tokyo was the last of our trip, and we had a lot of shopping to get done!  We stopped to soak in the views from the Tokyo Metropolitan building and spent way to much time in Akihabara.
(Day 20,21)
Fish And Oysters

Tokyo Fish Market

The end of our trip, and a great place to visit. Fish is a huge part of the Japanese diet, and see where Tokyo's supply comes through was invigorating.
(Day 22)


Eggs Cooking
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A Bomb Memorial
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Blue Pool of Hell
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Oguni Village North
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Sea of Silver Sand
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Pond In Park
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Trimmed Wasabi
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Floating Arch O-torii
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Metropolitan From Observing Deck
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Parade Walking Past Torches
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Fish And Oysters
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Dessert
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Homitsushaku Kongo
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Kegon Falls
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Clothes For Ryokan
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From: John Harvey Photo > Trips out of the Country > A Second Trip to Japan

Last Modified Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 00:46:04 Edit
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