Today we flew back and are getting reacquainted with home. “Now, where are the cutting boards?” The next trip was to be to Italy with family but we just learned my SiL busted a knee, so we’re rescheduling to the fall. That was an opportunity to move my fall solo…
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Assembled currency for my upcoming trip. My phone is reading the remaining balance on my Suica card, I use for local transit. That's Hideyo Noguchi, a bacteriologist who researched rabies, polio, and syphilis, on the ¥1,000 note. Natsu Higuchi, Japan’s first prominent female writer, is on the ¥5,000 note. The…
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All packed for a quick getaway tomorrow. Today I was taken off the clinical trial because it's no longer working for me. My oncologist strongly encouraged me to go ahead with my trip: another scan and options await my return. I'll be bearing Japanese Kit Kats from a cluttered Donki for…
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Couldn't resist a slow-shutter shot at Chicago O'Hare ORD on my way to board a 13-hour United flight to Tokyo Haneda HND. I'll be in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon: the machinery of travel never ceases to be an adventure.
Took the Keikyu line from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Yokohama and checked in to the JR (Japan Rail) Hotel as the sun was setting on Thursday. I've stayed here before, the rooms are compact, but have everything I need. Note the pajamas on the bed. At a konbini (convenience store),…
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440 miles on a bullet train to Okayama, my base for the next three days. Took this rural train to Kibitsu Shrine, distinguished by a cypress bark gabled roof (unusual) and a 400-year-old, 1,200-foot covered walkway between buildings (again, unusual). Here, the train driver is doing what all train drivers…
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Kobo Daishi, born 774, founded Shingon Buddhism and established the Shikoku 88-temple 750-mile pilgrimage, among many accomplishments. Today I walked between temples 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75 (Zentsuji) his birthplace. I've now walked to 31 of the temples, sometimes more than once. The photo shows purification stations, one for…
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Woke up to rain, so took the Shinkansen 130 miles to sunny Iwakuni on the other side of the weather system. At the Simose Art Museum, designed by star architect Shigeru Ban, I enjoyed a dessert lunch overlooking the Inland Sea. Eight brightly colored, rearrangeable gallery modules can be configured…
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It's been a rainy day, a good day to travel by bullet and local trains from Okayama (1) to Kyushu, one of Japan's four main islands. I'm staying in the onsen town of Yufuin (2) for two nights then I'll stay in Fukuoka (3) as a base for day trips.
Checked into a ryokan (traditional inn) in Yufuin, on the island of Kyushu. My room has this personal onsen with free-flowing water from a hot spring (that's steam!) and I'll be sleeping on a futon on tatami mats. At US$170 per day, the value is excellent, as it includes a…
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I was met with icy blasts as I got off the bus at the trailhead bus stop, and after only a few hundred yards, I abandoned the ascent. Though a comfortable climb I've done three times before, today was not the day. There was no snow atop Mt. Yufu this…
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I'm staying next to Hakata Station, a district of Fukuoka, so, of course I had Hakata-style ramen for dinner. The creamy broth is made from pork bones, cooked at a rolling boil for an extended period, 12 to 60 hours, depending on the recipe. I ordered and paid at a…
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Took a bullet train 180 miles to Kagoshima for the afternoon. Recent visits had been washouts, but today I wandered in shirtsleeves, getting reacquainted with Sengan-en (extensive garden with views across Kagoshima Bay to Sakurajima, an active volcano), the harbor with boats going to unique places like Tanegashima (Japan's space…
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It took 3 trains and a bus to reach the trailhead for a Kyushu OLLE hike, but that's part of the fun. It's getting harder to find a course I haven't hiked. I followed special markers past rice paddies, through the ruins of an enormous castle, and through rural villages.…
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This morning (Saturday) I make a quick getaway from Fukuoka (1) to Hagi (2), a less-visited castle town, for the night. The next day (Sunday) I'd planned to continue to a second castle town, Tsuwano (3), for the afternoon before heading to Osaka (4) for Sunday night. Rain is guaranteed…
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Spent the afternoon walking around Hagi's old town. It has retained the street grid from feudal times, and there's still many merchant and samurai homes from that era. If this was on the other side of Honshu, near a bullet train line, it would be overrun with tourists. Thanks to…
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Visited the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe, designed by Tadao Ando. I always feel at peace in Ando's buildings. Walked around galleries featuring Ando's building models and timeline. Took a look at a large Paul Klee retrospective, his Bauhaus pieces particularly resonated with me. His work was condemned…
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Walked the paths atop the beautiful 2-kilometer structure encircling Osaka's Expo 2025. Up close, the amazing workmanship features traditional joints reminiscent of temple construction. The laminated wooden beams are meticulously finished and appear suitable for interior work. Its theme, "unity in diversity," is something most would surely support.
Today (Monday) after walking the Grand Ring at Expo 2025 in Osaka (1), I took an express train then a bullet train to Toyama (2) where I'll stay for three nights. I'll then spend three nights in each of Niigata (3) and Akita (4) before heading for Yokohama (5) then…
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Toyama is bicycle-friendly: city policies push for more bicycles and fewer cars. While bikeshare stations dot the city, I rented a cross-bike (USD$8) more suitable for exploring. I cycled a scenic trail (look at those mountains!) for a few hours that mostly follows the shoreline of Toyama Bay. Along the…
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Rain this morning, time to ride the rails and find a place Instagram influencers have yet to over-love: Tsutsuishi Station, on a rural line, approximately 60 riders a day (mainly school kids), in a 7-mile tunnel, 130 feet underground, no elevator. Click through for a photo journal.
Pieced together a route from Toyama to Niigata today, mainly on local trains. Given the infrequent local service in depopulating areas, I took short Shinkansen rides at the start and end so I'd arrive in Niigata today. Here, I'm contemplating the narrow-gauge tracks (3'6"). British engineer Edmund Morel recommended this…
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Rented a clunky bicycle (but it was cheap, less than US$4) from this underground bicycle garage across the road from my hotel in Niigata. Cycled a 20km course, mainly on off-road trails beside waterways and the Sea of Japan, around the core city while being buffeted by wind gusts that…
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Sometimes when I travel, I like to figure out what the locals do at weekends. One answer in Niigata is: take a regular train to Yahiko (here, the station staff are greeting us), wander around the little town and parkland admiring the cherry blossom, visit Yahiko Shrine (the religious site…
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On the train from Niigata to Akita, I found myself craving tempura, something I hadn't yet had on this trip. Upon arrival I found a tempura restaurant, photographed a tempting plastic model in the window, then showed the photo to the server. The real tempura looked almost as good as…
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Rode a mini-shinkansen bullet train (slower until it hits the much faster Tohoku line to Tokyo) for an hour from Akita, then a local bus. Cycled 20K around Lake Tazawa. With minimal wind and a properly tuned hybrid bike, the ride was easy and offered lovely views of this deep…
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Rain was bouncing off the sidewalks in Akita today. Meanwhile, 430 miles away in Yokohama, it would be sunny, in the 70s. Checked out of the hotel a day early then headed for Yokohama, a no-brainer. Took in many scenes on my walk along the lively waterfront (Tokyo Bay), including…
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Jutting out into the Pacific on the west side of Tokyo Bay lies the Miura Peninsula. My destination today was Jogashima, a small island at its tip, connected by a bridge. I took two trains and a bus, then walked right around the rocky island.
This year I get two May Days. Today, Thursday May 1 in Yokohama, port workers were having a peaceful May Day march as I walked along the waterfront this morning. After an overnight flight, it will still be Thursday May 1, this time in Chicago.
I’ve often posted about the Shikoku 88 pilgrimage, a 700-mile circular route around Shikoku, one of Japan’s main islands. Over the years, I’ve hiked to 31 of its 88 temples, some multiple times. Today I continued my tradition of posting one photo of a purification station from each temple I…
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