Mount Moiwas is 532m above sea level. My walk to the top started from the same location as the Maruyama walk a couple of days ago. This was twice the height. There were more people on the walk but it wasn’t that busy. Hikers are very friendly: everyone says hello to you (“konichiwa”). There were … Continue reading / view photos Mount Moiwa and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
Tag: Japan
Sapporo TV Tower and Moerenuma Park
My plan when I left the hostel was to go to Moerenuma Park. However, the sun was out today. As I passed Sapporo TV Tower, it looked good. So, I decided to go to the top of it for the panoramic views of Sapporo. I saw the length of Odori Park, which I walked along … Continue reading / view photos Sapporo TV Tower and Moerenuma Park
A hike, a shrine, and the red-light district
On the Alltrails hiking website, I found a few hikes around Sapporo. Since I’d started late, I chose one of the shorter ones that would give me views of the city and whose start could easily be reached. A reviewer of the walk commented that they wished they’d done the walk in reverse because there … Continue reading / view photos A hike, a shrine, and the red-light district
Sapporo – Hokkaido – Japan!
I got to Seoul’s main airport with plenty of time to look around. Once again, there was some sort of parade going on! The South Koreans love a parade! I’m flying to Sapporo in Hokkaido, a part of Japan I’ve never visited. There are over 14,000 islands in the Japanese archipelago, of which 260 are … Continue reading / view photos Sapporo – Hokkaido – Japan!
Leaving Japan
Helene departed a day before I left for my next destination. My flight to Taiwan was at 6am. I booked a hostel close to the airport so that I could maximise sleep time and minimise travel time. Even with that I still had to wake at 3am. I arrived at the Tokyo hostel early. It … Continue reading / view photos Leaving Japan
Winding down in Tokyo
We had enjoyed staying near Ueno. It was close to a park and metro, and we were familiar with the area. However, holiday season was hotting up. More people were arriving. It was the first time since the pandemic that Japan was fully open in the uninhibited way it had been before. Cherry blossom season … Continue reading / view photos Winding down in Tokyo
Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Our train to Tokyo was at lunch time. We had time to walk around central Hiroshima and visit some places on our list. After putting our luggage in the locker, we took a tourist bus to the Peace Memorial Museum. This was as poignant as it was harrowing. The Peace Memorial Park, in which the … Continue reading / view photos Hiroshima Peace Memorial
The Great Torii Gate of Miyajima
The shinkansen took us quickly to Hiroshima. Since we weren’t staying in the centre, we had to take a local train to Hiroshima Bay. We were staying at a homestay (someone’s house) because we wanted to hike up Mount Misen on a nearby island, Miyajima (also known as Itsukusima). The following day, our host drove … Continue reading / view photos The Great Torii Gate of Miyajima
Kennin-ji temple
This was our last day in Kyoto. In the afternoon, we were going to Hiroshima by train. So far, we’d seen a “wet” Zen garden at Nanzen-ji but not the dry variety with raked stones. After some research, we found one and decided we could squeeze in a visit and catch our train. The previous … Continue reading / view photos Kennin-ji temple
Manga and Kanji Museums
We didn’t go to many museums, but we did go to two small ones. Manga and all things related are in the Manga Museum. There are single examples and books. The collected books go right back to the beginning of Manga. Visitors are welcome to sit and read the books and magazines in the library. … Continue reading / view photos Manga and Kanji Museums