Hello all and a very belated happy new year! It’s sadly been a few months since I last wrote on this blog and I fear that pattern may not change much this year. Although I  made several trips back to Japan in 2017, at the moment there are no planned trips on the schedule for 2018. It’s a fact that normally I would be quick to remedy.

However …

This year holds a host of new developments, the first and most major of them being a cross-country move for our family to Washington DC. We’ll be driving to our new home and taking the opportunity to explore our native country, something we haven’t had the chance to do much in the past decade (though we’ve made a fair attempt to change that in the past few months with some visits to America’s amazing National Parks!).

The Yamaga Lantern Festival from my trip in February 2017

While Washington DC promises to be a grand adventure, it certainly won’t be a long one. In fact, the reason we won’t be journeying back to Japan in 2018 is that we’ll be moving “home” to Tokyo at the beginning of the following year.

Irises near Kita-Ayase in Tokyo (June 2017)

It’s an exciting, much-hoped for development and every member of our family is thrilled at the chance to return. For me personally, it’s an opportunity to continue to grow Uncover Japan back in the country in which it was first dreamed up.

Fall foliage along the Mitake River Trail in 2017

I won’t be posting too many long-form blogs this year (as our schedule will be quite packed!!), but please feel free to follow me on Facebook, where I continue to post photos and travel tips every day.