Hiroshima
December 6 – 9, 2024, Japan. We had a long day of travel from Koya to Hiroshima, over 6 1/2 hours, from bus to cable car to Shinkansen, the fast […]
Tag Archives: Japan
Koya
December 4 – 6, 2024, Japan. We were on our way to the . Shawn had been jonesing to go after a BBC special on the mountaintop village. We took […]
Nara
December 2 – 4, 2024, Japan. We were sad to leave Kyoto, but still had 10 days left of the trip. We said goodbye to our Airbnb hosts, who let […]
Kyoto
November 25 – December 2, Japan. Another tough goodbye. I had fallen in love with Takayama and didn’t want to leave. Of course, next stop was Kyoto. As it was […]
Takayama
November 23 – 25, 2024, Japan. I dropped my bags at the bus station in Shirakawa-go and walked back to the village one more time before leaving. I walked the […]
Shirakawa-go
November 21 – 23, 2024, Japan. From the snow monkey park in Nagano to Shirakawa-go in Gifu prefecture. On the way we stopped in Kanazawa, where Shawn had hoped to […]
Yamanochi
November 19 – 21, 2024, Japan. We took the 20 minute shuttle from Hatch-no-Yu to the parking lot, then waited almost an hour for the bus, then another 2 hour […]
Hatcho-no-Yu
November 17 – 19, 2024, Japan. Hatcho-no-yu was a mountain retreat with natural hot springs not far from Nikko as the crow flies, but because it was in a remote […]
Nikko
November 16 – 17, 2024, Japan. We said goodbye to the cozy house in Shimoda and hauled our things back to Rendaiji Station. It was a weekend, which I hadn’t […]
Shimoda
November 14 – 16, 2024, Japan. Saying goodbye to Kamakura was hard. Shawn said it reminded him of Santa Cruz. I thought it was more like Carmel. But either way, […]
Kamakura
November 11 – 14, 2024, Japan. We had booked an Airbnb in the house of an older couple in Kamakura. We had some stressful times getting there, as Shawn misheard […]
Tokyo
November 4 – 11, 2024, Japan. (I’m writing this travel log based on memory 1 1/2 years after the fact.) This was my first trip to Japan. My boyfriend Shawn […]
Sapporo
May 14, 2025, Hokkaido, Japan. Breakfast was lovely—thick, fluffy toast topped with lettuce and prosciutto, served alongside potato soup. It hit the spot. I decided to head to Oriyama for […]
Otaru
May 11, 2025, Hokkaido, Japan. I slept restlessly and woke around 6 a.m. I couldn’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours and kept turning over whether I […]
Hakodate
May 9, 2025, Hokkaido, Japan. I was sad to leave Matsumae. I could have easily spent a week there, wandering in the hills and exploring the small town. It seemed […]
Matsumae
May 7, 2025, Hokkaido, Japan. I packed quickly and barely made the train. Shawn likes cutting it close, and I honestly didn’t think he’d make it this time. I carried […]
Hirosaki
May 4, 2025, Japan. I had really enjoyed our 3 day stay in Kakunodate. Before catching the 11:05 train, I rushed back to the Nishinomiya-Memorial complex, hoping for a second […]
Kakunodate
May 1, 2025, Japan. I was sad to be leaving Tōno. We packed our bags and headed to the municipal museum, which turned out to be excellent. I stayed until […]
Tōno
April 29, 2025, Japan. I woke up bleary-eyed after another rough night. No espressos in this town, so we headed straight to the train for an early start. We arrived […]
Hiraizumi
April 27, 2025, Japan. I really liked Matsushima and wish I had more than a day. I asked Shawn if he minded leaving mid-day for Hiraizumi, and he agreed. I […]
Matsushima
April 26, 2025, Japan. We left Yamagata around 9:30 after enjoying a latte and pastry at a Starbucks in the train station. I had wanted to see the old hospital […]
Yamagata
April 22, 2025. We woke early, packed for the next leg of the journey, and headed back to the cute cafe we had found the day before. One of my […]
Aizuwakamatsu
April 19, 2025. Before catching the train from Tokyo to Aizuwakamtsu, we headed to the Fukagawa Edo museum which we had visited my first time in Tokyo in November. They […]
Tokyo
April 15, 2025. Shawn and I were traveling back to Japan after having visited (my first time) in November and December 2024. It had been a wonderful trip. We had […]
Lisa Karpinski 