I have just spent the most incredible 4 weeks in Japan. As I’ve been travelling I’ve tried to feed you little snippets of what I’ve bee doing via this blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, but I have in no way covered it all. As time goes on I will be posting about certain aspects of my trip in more depth but I expect it will take me weeks, if not months, to get everything sorted out and written up, and to upload all of my photos. So, for now, here’s a quick summary of what happened…
I visited 22 cities/towns in 12 different prefectures. I stayed in 18 different hotels/ryokans and 1 friend’s house, and visited a further 13 hotels/ryokans for work. I feel like I saw every kind of accommodation, from the most basic of shukubo (temple lodging) through to pure 5-star-deluxe luxury (which I really got a taste for!). The places I visited were: Tokyo, Ushiku, Nagano, Yudanaka Onsen, Matsumoto, Takayama, Kamikochi, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hakone, Yamagata, Naruko Onsen, Hiraizumi, Tono, Kamaishi, Rikuzentakata, Sendai, Shichigahama, Matsushima, Toyama, Takaoka, Nokogiri.
During the trip, I encountered…
Geisha dances
Kamogawa Odori Geisha Dances – no photos allowed, of course
Matsuo Basho & his companion Kawai Sora
Matsuo Basho & Kawai Sora at Yamadera
Exclusive Kit Kats
Kit Kat Choclatory
Breathtaking views
Kamikochi
Festivals
Yamagata Hanagasa Festival at Rokkonsai
Monkeys
Snow Monkey
Rabbits
Super cute rabbit at a rabbit cafe!
Castles
Matsumoto Castle
Temples
Zenkoji, Nagano
Shrines
Sendai Osaki Hachiman Shrine
Giant Buddhas
Takaoka Daibutsu
Jizo
Jizo
Kappa
Kappa in Tono
Kokeshi
Kokeshi in Naruko Onsen
The sea
Kamaishi
Ice cream
Häagen-Dazs ‘Spoon Vege’ – surprisingly nice!
And so much more…
Me at Gohyaku Rakan in Tono
Watch this space for updates… they will come, but they will take time! The JLPT is coming up in 3 weeks and I’m going to have to get my studying head on before I can focus on getting too many blogs written up… がんばります！ (^_^)v
Haikugirl's Japan 
Looks like you had an amazing stay here in Japan. Looking forward to finding out and seeing more about it in the coming weeks. Good luck as well with the JLPT.
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I did, it was incredible! Thanks for the ‘good luck’ – がんばります！
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Hehe, glad to hear you had a great time.
Maybe you can now imagine how long it’ll take ME to get all of my 10928409385 trips sorted and online. It feels like it will take a few decades. T_T
Woah, so many familiar sights! Can’t wait for more! ^_____^
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Yeah, I know exactly how you feel! (>_<) So worth it though! (*^_^)v
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Every picture made me go ‘Woo!’ Looks like you had a great time, look forward to reading more about it 🙂
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Aw, thanks James! Yeah, it was awesome! 😀
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Looks like you’ve had a super busy 4 weeks!! Looking forward to reading more detail about each place. And that rabbit is adorrrrable! 🙂
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I did – I managed to cram soooo much in! Wasn’t the bunny cute? Awww! 🙂
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Lucky Duck, you looked refreshed and glowing.
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Thanks, yeah, I’m very lucky! I love my job and it blends perfectly with my personal interests! 🙂
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That monkey picture is absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to see more pics and hear about the whole thing!
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Aw, thanks! I got lucky with a few out of the hundreds I took! 😉
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You had such an amazing trip!! And you got to visit the Kit Kat store. It was a great journey and I’m hoping to add a few things to my to do/ to see list. Thanks for all the wonderful pictures. And being an inspiration, I don’t always get the chance to comment but I love reading your posts. Someday I hope to meet you~ 😀
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Aw, thank you for the lovely comment! I’ll be posting a lot more once I have time – so watch this space! 😉 I hope to meet you someday too! ^_^
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