Discoveries from around the archipelago
On our road trip to Tokyo the other week, we made sure our route meandered north a bit from the highway we normally would have taken to include a drive through Shimane Prefecture. I've already posted about seeing the garden that has been #! on my to-do list for quite some time, but the day... Continue Reading →
Last week, washi (handmade Japanese paper) was recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage product. I'm a fan of this beautiful paper and purchase it for special occasions whenever I can but I had the chance to try my own hand at making washi earlier this year on a trip to Yame in Fukuoka Prefecture.... Continue Reading →
If you followed me on facebook over the weekend, you'll know that I spent my weekend in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka. The initial plan was to spend three days hiking the Kumano Kodo, one of the old pilgrimage routes on the Kii Peninsula and a UNESCO recognized World Heritage Site. Unfortunately, the weather had... Continue Reading →
I'm not a bucket list type of traveler. Sure, I've got a general idea of the things I want to see at any given time (ie Kyoto in autumn, the summer festivals of Tohoku) but I don't have an actual paper account of destinations I absolutely must see and there's no real order to my... Continue Reading →
Last November, I spent a few days traveling through central Japan and one of those nights was spent at a farmhouse in Shirakawa-go. Most people visit Shirakawa-go on a day trip from either Takayama or Kanazawa and fight the hordes of tourists to get crowd-free pictures of the gassho zukkuri (praying hands) homes that the village... Continue Reading →
About two weeks ago, I embarked on a planned overnight stop en route from Takayama (in the Japan Alps) to Kanazawa (on the Sea of Japan coast). My destination was the Shirakawa-go region, known for its thatched roof gassho-zukuri (praying hands) houses and a place that has long been on my "to-visit" list. While Takayama's manhole... Continue Reading →
