25/08/2019 / Last updated : 30/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Timber Wolves at Asahiyama Zoo 旭山動物園

Day 7 September 14th. Today is zoo day, so we drive back towards Asahikawa. This involves driving down the long valley of rice fields that stretch to the wooded hills that rise sharply on either side. Tacky tin buildings, farm house and sheds dot the fields. There are also many abandoned structures too. Some of these completely collapsed presumably by the weight of winter snow. Asahiyama Zoo The zoo is well signposted and there are many large car parks. Asahiyama zoo is famous, at least in Japan, for the ingenuity of some of its enclosures. This zoo attempts to shows the normal behaviour of the animals. Impossible, of course, in […]

21/05/2019 / Last updated : 02/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Susa Hornfels, Toyota Lake and Shimonoseki Fish Market　須佐、豊田湖、下関

Day 94 Very unsettled weather this morning, blustery with patchy sunshine and very dark, threatening clouds around. D. is on-line, doing some research, so I go for a short stroll to the nearby river. I notice two rainbows and, as I am admiring them, I realize one is between me and a nearby clump of trees. I make a break for the car but I am too late and am caught in the downpour. We sit in the car, in the pouring rain, wondering where to go as our destination for the night is only a couple of hours away. We decide to head for Hagi and then plan what […]

19/05/2019 / Last updated : 02/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Izumo-taisha, stone rabbits　出雲大社

Day 93 A night marked by heavy rain and thunder but the morning brings pale sunshine, even if the thunder is still rumbling around and the western sky fantastically dark. I make a trip to the toilet, thinking I have time before any serious rain arrives. As I emerge, the hail is sheeting down. This doesn’t last long and, after a short chat to the lady cleaner, I make it back to the car. We drive across the road to a Lawson car park for breakfast as, uniquely, this michi no eki has no vending machine for coffee. Izumo-taisha　　出雲大社 Our next stop is Izumo-taisha. Its big hall, immediately, made me […]

18/05/2019 / Last updated : 02/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Adachi museum and Shinjiko　足立美術館、宍道湖

Day 92 Adachi Museum　　足立美術館 After the thunderstorms of the night, the morning breaks raw and dripping. A short drive, mostly along a river bank, brings us to the Adachi Museum of Art. This museum is famed, and rightly so, for its gardens. It has a plaque to state that it has been the winner of the award for the number one Japanese garden for thirteen consecutive years. The gardens are perfect and that is, perhaps, the only problem with them. The Gardens For the most part, you cannot enter the exquisite gardens but only view them through the plate glass. At certain places it is permitted to step outside. The […]

13/05/2019 / Last updated : 03/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Sakaiminato – Kitaro town　境港

Day 91 Kaze no Ie michi no eki It is a cold, foggy morning with ice not just on the windscreen but the whole vehicle is encased in a thin layer. The wooden decking, attractively fronting the toilet area, is treacherous. Kaze no Ie michi no eki is noted for its large vegetable market. A few people are arriving to shop, but it is closed. It shut for the winter on the 1st of December. We drive to Sakaiminato and the temperature rises by 10 degrees as we descend to sea level. The area around Mt. Daisen is very pleasant. There are steep valleys, wide river beds and plateaus. It […]

12/05/2019 / Last updated : 14/12/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Kurashiki and Hiruzen Highlands　倉敷、蒜山高原

Day 90 A blustery morning with leaves flying everywhere, the michi no eki Ipponmatsu Tenboen is busy with trucks coming and going but not much other activity until a JA market opens selling vegetables, mikan and kaki (persimmon). Behind the michi no eki building there is a view down over a wide, flat valley and beyond to a wider flatter sea. The shining fields stretching to the far hills appear to be salt beds and there are clearly canals running from the sea. Some fields are flooded but others appear black. I thought, at first, they were solar panels but there are no connecting power lines so they must be […]

08/05/2019 / Last updated : 03/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Himeji, The White Heron Castle 姫路城

Days 87, 88 and 89 After 3 days in Kyoto visiting old friends and some of our favourite places – Kiyomizudera, Maruyama Park, Tetsugaku no michi and Manshuin to name a few – we headed out of Kyoto and followed R. 9 as the weather deteriorated. Finally we stopped at Yoka Tajima no kura michi no eki for a hot bath and to sleep for the night. We wake to weak sunshine, mist in the hollows and steam rising everywhere as we set off for Himeji. The views are wonderful with the mist rising and the sun trying to assert its supremacy; sumie scenes all around. Takeda Castle We take […]

05/05/2019 / Last updated : 03/11/2021 d.d Japan Road Trip Autumn '16

Kyoto Miyama-Hanase-Kurama　美山、花背、鞍馬

Day 85 We leave michi-no-eki Galleria Kameoka and follow Route 9, heading away from Kyoto. There is a solid line of traffic in both directions. Kameoka, seen from this perspective, consists of a line of Pachinko parlours, used car lots, fast food joints and petrol stations. This is lucky, as we fill up with relatively cheap fuel and head off towards Obama and Miyama. Miyama This area of Kyoto prefecture is unfamiliar to me with its pretty streams, in the wide valley bottoms, and the picturesque villages, hugging the hills that rise out of them. We discover our intended onsen of the night before – a very long way from […]

Japan Road Trip Autumn ’16