" Japan is an island in East Asia, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea & Taiwan in the south. Japan is officially divided into 8 regions comprising of 47 prefectures "
Land of the Rising Sun, Kon'nichiwa (hello), Sayonara (goodbye), Shinkansen (bullet train), Onsen (hot spring), a delayed Olympic Games Tokyo July 2021 amid Covid-19 pandemic, Tokyo Disneyland, Mt Fuji, Japanese Alps & snow wall, Zen gardens (rock gardens), Torii (traditional Japanese gate), Sakura (cherry blossoms), sumo (wrestling), geisha (traditional female entertainers), samurai (Japanese warrior caste), tatami room (traditional Japanese style room), Japanese saki (alcoholic drink), ramen (Japanese noodle soup), sushi (traditional Japanese dish of prepared vinegared rice) & sashimi (Japanese delicacy consisting of thin sliced of fresh raw fish or meat), Kobe beef (Wagyu beef), snow crabs, Japanese green tea, wasabi (horseradish paste), Natto (fermented soybean breakfast food) .... these were some of the things I experienced (using my six sense other than the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste & smell which help us to understand & perceive the world around us) during my Good Old Days traveling in Japan !
Japan was one of the priority countries of traveling in my bucket list after my retirement in May 2006. After doing a 16 days free & easy visit to Silk Road & Xinjiang (China) in May 2006, I went on to do a free & easy visit (24 days) to northern India (Leh & Ladakh) in July 2007, followed by two free & easy (14 days each) visits to Japan in April 2008 & May 2010 ! My last visits to Japan (package tours) were in Oct 2015 to Hokkaido (7 days) & April 2017 to Central Honshu / Japanese Alps (7 days). Thus I have to certain extent fulfiled my dream of seeing a greater Japan .... I am not in a hurry to say sayonara to Japan but hope to show up to say Kon'nichiwa to Japan one more time in the near future ..... these were some of the places I had visited in the Land of the Rising Sun (2008, 2010, 2015 & 2017):
1) Hokkaido - Sapporo, Monbetsu, Chitose, Otaru, Abashiri, Lake Akan, Lake Machu, Lake Kussharo, Daisetsuzan National Park
2) Kanto - Tokyo, Yokohama, Mariko Village, Disneyland3) Chubu - Ninja Village, Nagoya, Mt Fuji, Shizuoka, Gifu, Tateyama, Matsumoto, Gero, Kamikochi, Shirakawago, Gujo Hachiman, Takayama
4) Kansai/Kinki - Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Himeji, Amano Hasidate Kinosaki, Nagahama
5) Chugoku - Hiroshima, Miyajima Island
The 10 Best Places to Visit in Japan as highlighted in touropia's travel video are (an even score for me having visited 5 out of the 10 Best Places to Visit in Japan):
- Tokyo
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Hakone (yet to visit)
- Takayama
- Nikko (yet to visit)
- Kamatura (yet to visit)
- Hiroshima
- Ishigaki (yet to visit)
- Kanazawa (yet to visit)
In Nov 2015 & March 2017, my wife & myself together with my brother in law + wife joined a package tour to Hokkaido & Central Honshu region, Japan. These were some of the tasty Japanese food our group savored in hotels & local Japanese restaurants while touring Japan:
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| We don't remember days, we remember moments |
" Ohayou (Good Morning) & Yokoso (Nice to See You & Welcome) to the Land of Rising Sun " - behind every travel, pictures of my Good Old Days free & easy travelling & package tours to Japan (2008, 2010, 2015 & 2017).
1) Tokyo, Japan (visited in May 2008 & April 2010)
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| Tokyo May 2008 |
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| Tokyo April 2010 |
2) Kyoto, Japan (May 2008, April 2010 & April 2017)
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| Kyoto April 2010 |
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| Kyoto 2017 |
3) Nara, Japan (May 2008)
4) Takayama, Japan (April 2017)
5) Hiroshima, Japan (April 2010)
6) Hakone, Japan (yet to visit)
7) Nikko, Japan (yet to visit)
8) Kamatura, Japan (yet to visit)
9) Ishigaki, Japan (yet to visit)
10) Kanazawa, Japan (yet to visit)
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