Nyuto Onsen is a collection of seven popular and remote hot spring inns, located in the Towada Hachimatai National Park in north-central Tohoku. The name Nyuto Onsen means “nipple hot spring” and comes from the suggestive shape of nearby Mount Nyuto. With a history of over 300 years, many of the springs were visited by...Read More
If you are looking for a unique souvenir for yourself from Japan, we recommend that you consider purchasing a “御朱印帳”, or “Red seal book”. You can use this to get unique, one-of-a-kind seals and calligraphy at temples and shrines. Or, you can bring a notebook for the many ink stamps you will find everywhere in...Read More
Shinkansen efficiently transporting thousands of people every day. Concrete jungles with huge neon signs turning night into day. These are the things that immediately come to most people’s mind when thinking about Japan. However, Japan does have a natural side. Shiretoko National Park is one of those places. Shiretoko was made a UNESCO World Heritage...Read More
The plan for today is to visit Temples 11 to 17. We include a walk from Temples 13 to 17 on many of our escorted tours, so I have walked these temples a number of times in the past. I started the day by driving to Temple 11 (Fujiidera). From my hotel across the street...Read More
If you have done any research on Japanese cooking, you will have heard the term “umami”. All Japanese cookbooks, cooking shows, etc. will talk about “umami”. It is said this it is what gives Japanese food its unique flavor. The term is a shortened version of “umai” (delicious in Japanese) and “mi” (taste in Japanese)....Read More
My plan for today on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage was to visit Temples 1 though 10. If you look at a map of Shikoku with the temples shown on the map, you will see these 10 temples are very close together, heading generally west from Tokushima. I started the day by driving from my...Read More
What is it? The Shikoku Pilgrimage is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kukai (Kobo Daishi) on the island of Shikoku. Large numbers of pilgrims (known as henro in Japanese) still undertake the journey for a variety of reasons (if you ask 100 people why they are doing it, you...Read More
After a few train rides and a long flight, we are back in Colorado. Corina and I spent our Jet lagged nights (3am texts when sleep just won’t come) talking about...Read More
Miyajima Island may be one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places in Japan. Even the ferry ride from Hiroshima to the island is quite something. Seeing Miyajima Island from a distance as you slowly ferry towards the port gives you a glimpse into all of its splendor. When we arrived on the...Read More
This has been an incredibly fast paced and adventurous trip for us. There is so much to see in Japan, and we have only seen a small bit of it. After trekking from Magome to Tsumago, we went to Takayama. Takayama is in the Japanese Alps and is filled with beautiful scenery and delicious...Read More
