Tag: road trip
Road Trippin’ through Kumamoto Prefecture
With summer creeping in and three friends staying with us, the call of the wild echoed through our stuffy, overcrowded Tokyo apartment. Lucky for us, Japan is full of great nature escapes, so we decided to plan a road trip. In our...
Takachiho Gorge: Rowing through Southern Japan
An hour and a half from Kumamoto, the Takachiho Gorge cuts deep through Southern Kyushuu. Shifting volcanic basalt formed the striated gorge aeons ago, causing early visitors to drawn comparisons with the scales of a dragon. A trip to the gorge allows...
Backpacking Through Japan – An Overview
In the spring of 2019, my fiancée and I spent three weeks backpacking from Tokyo to Okinawa. Traveling over 2000 kilometers using a mix of almost two dozen local trains, five buses, and one boat, we managed to traverse more than half...
The Okinawa Ferry Voyage: Tokyo to Okinawa Day 14
This is the last day of our trip from Tokyo to Okinawa, but the journey doesn’t stop with the Okinawa ferry. To keep up with the last portion of our trip, checkout the Okinawa Without a Car series here.
The Many Eruptions of Sakurajima: Tokyo to Okinawa Day 13
At the southern tip of the Japanese mainland and the island of Kyushu, the port of Kagoshima is home to one of the most startling sights in the country: a towering volcano that erupts daily. Sakurajima dominates the city skyline, and chances...
Riding the Isaburo-Shinpei : Tokyo to Okinawa Day 12
Our last day of train travel didn’t disappoint. On the way down to Kagoshima, we rode the Isaburo-Shinpei line, which takes passengers on a trek through the forests and mountains of Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. The dark wooden interior and primarily rural...
The Healing Waters of Hitoyoshi: Tokyo to Okinawa Day 11
On day 11 of our trip, we left Fukuoka and after a brief and unexpected ramen lunch, found ourselves in the small town of Hitoyoshi. Owing to its rich history and culture, Hitoyoshi touts itself as the “Little Kyoto” of Kyushu. The...
Frittering About in Fukuoka: Tokyo to Okinawa Day 10
Sometimes, the best days of a vacation are the ones where things fail to go as planned. When an amusement park turned out to be defunct, and an art gallery closed, we ended up on a self-guided tour of Fukuoka. Instead of...
All Aboard the Sanyo Main Line: Tokyo to Okinawa Day 9
After a two-day stay, we left the city of Hiroshima behind us and boarded a series of local trains on the Sanyo Main Line bound for Fukuoka. The 9thday of our trip would prove to be the longest. All told, we travelled...
Renewal on Miyajima: Tokyo to Okinawa Day 8
The island of Miyajima, also known as Itsukushima, is a short trip away from Hiroshima. Throughout much of its history the island was considered a sacred space, so pilgrims were unable to mourn, give birth, or even die on the island. Moving...
