Japan

Nara is the perfect destination for a day trip from Osaka or Kyoto on your trip to Japan.  As a former capital of Japan, Nara has a rich cultural heritage.  For a…

Koyasan is the founding location of Shingon Buddhism in Japan.  A priest then known as Kukai and posthumously referred to as Kobo Daishi (The Grand Master Who Propagated the Buddhist Teaching,) learned the…

After spending the day exploring UNESCO’s Iwami Ginzan silver mine we piled back in the car and drove to Onomichi.  The plan was to drive across the famous Shimanami Kaido bridge.  Truth is…

Iwami Ginzan is a tiny mining village tucked into the Shimane prefecture on Honshu, Japan’s main island.  The mine and surrounding Omori Town were inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage list in…

Japanese food is absolutely delicious and I was fortunate enough to sample dozens of different foods during my 2 weeks in Japan. Therefore, I have made this Japanese food guide for you so that…

After a day of walking around Matsue we hopped into Andrew’s car and ventured towards Izumo.  Izumo Taisha is famous throughout Japan as one of the oldest Shinto shrines.  In fact, the…

After Matsuyama Andrew and I drove through Kochi to pick up his buddy David (a Welshman) before driving north to pick up Tobias (a Kiwi) in Okayama rounding out our international group…

Matsuyama Castle was voted as Japan’s 2nd best castle by Trip Advisor in 2014 and my recent visit confirms that its still awesome!  I flew into Matsuyama to meet my college buddy…

Shinkansen to Tokyo After spending the weekend in Shimanto City made our way to Tokyo for a 48-hour stay.  My travel buddies Susan and Steph joined me for what would be a LONG…

My co-workers Susan, Steph and I decided to head to Japan for this Chuseok’s (Korean Thanksgiving) long weekend.  We stopped for the night in Tokyo before flying to Kochi where my college…