Japan – thirty years in the planning

We were making plans to tour Japan in 1982-83 when we discovered I was pregnant.  Ooops, that tour will have to wait – and wait it did, for 31 years.

So now we have reached Japan, and on a tour managed by a travel agent back home, without guides to show us the way but a 13 page document of how to get there and what to see when we do.  This sounds like an interesting challenge.  Our suggested itinerary takes in…

• Fukuoka
• Kumamoto
• Beppu
• Hiroshima
• Miyajima Island
• Okayama
• Kurashiki
• Kyoto
• Nara
• Osaka – actually, we didn’t get there
• Kanazawa
• Takayama
• Hakone
• Tokyo – with day trips to:
  • Nikko
  • Kamakura

And so the challenge was to get to all (or even some) of these places.

It turned out to be a great adventure, where we tamed the Shinkansen and Tokyo’s metro, managed the rain and the sunshine, ate amazing food and met some delightful people – mostly students who wanted to practice their English.

So here is a map…

Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Japan

Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Nara Prefecture, Japan

Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Okayama Prefecture, Japan

Japan

Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan

Oita Prefecture, Japan

Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan

Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan