04/10/2018 / Last updated : 17/05/2026 d.d Arts / Places of interest

Tono Furusato village, Legends of Tono 遠野

Day 48, October 2016, The serious wind of the night has dropped and the morning is bright and clear but rather cold. Hot coffee for breakfast with Akita apples. D. looks around the Tono Windy Hill produce shop where some strange tree fruit that I have never seen before is on display. The Akebi, apparently, is about 8 to 10 cm. long and 4 or 5 in diameter. I am not tempted to taste it. Tono Furusato Village The interest of the shop exhausted, we move on to visit Tono Furusatomura, a village of old, traditional houses. This is another collection of buildings collected from various locations and put together […]

04/10/2018 / Last updated : 10/05/2023 d.d Festival

Hirosaki Neputa ’18. Inakadate Tambo Art　弘前ねぷた、田舎館田んぼアート

Bandaisan SA to Hirosaki BanEtsu highway – Tohokudo highway about 485km　　　　　　　 All day on the highway from Bandai san SA to Hirosaki. Arriving in Hirosaki, we check the Road Station Hirosaki. This has a busy market and although parking is limited in a the front, there is more space available at the rear. The toilets are better than the first impression suggests but we decide to check michi-no-eki Inakadate. Tambo Art at Inakadate 2018 Inakadate is a much better prospect from […]

02/10/2018 / Last updated : 29/01/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Aomori festival road trip 2018, Getting There.

Planning to attend the Aomori Summer festivals on a month long road trip but concerned about summer heat when sleeping in our vehicle. We take the highways to minimize the nights in hot southern prefectures. Also choose the route and overnight stops to keep to the higher elevations. Fukuoka – Yoshiwa SA (Chugoku highway) Kyushu highway – Chugoku highway 256.7km As a typhoon is sweeping down the length of Japan, unusually from Kanto to Kyushu, we delay our departure for Aomori by one day. Finally we leave around 8pm, when the remnants of the typhoon […]

26/09/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Driving the Iwate coastline through tsunami devastation

Day47, October 2016, Kyukamura Rikuchu-Miyako A bright morning and I move the car into the sunshine; open all the doors to give it an airing. We eat breakfast outside, in the sun, exciting the crows and a grey and white tom cat that lurks, awaiting an opportunity. Having slept till almost eight, the morning is quite advanced when we leave and drive the short distance from Kyukamura Rikuchu-Miyako to view a blow hole. Unfortunately, the tide is low and the sea rather calm so the blow-hole, is not impressive. The walk through the woods is pleasant though and the coast, of course, wonderful. Miyako　宮古 As D. wants to visit the […]

20/09/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Scenic Drive / Spots

Sanriku -Tsunami devastation -Kitayamazaki viewpoint　三陸

Day 46, October 2016, A noisy morning as shachuhaku(sleep in a car) people are early risers and the Sunday drivers are making an early start at michi no eki Shizukuishi Anekko. The takoyaki stall holders are setting up preparing for a busy day as we leave the michi-no-eki (road station), heading for the Iwate, Sanriku coast. Not taking the highway apparently only adds 20 minutes to the drive, so we opt for that. This turns out to be not particularly spectacular after the scenery we have become accustomed to. At one point, I feel I could be driving through Germany or Austria just the buildings are not so cute. Sanriku […]

14/09/2018 / Last updated : 07/02/2023 d.d Hiking / Walking

Hiking Oirase Gorge to Lake Towada　奥入瀬

Day 43, October 2016, Awake well before the 6.30 alarm that D. set to be on the safe side, as we have to make an early start today. It is a cold, windy morning with patches of blue sky but ominous dark clouds racing overhead. We are in a hurry to leave, so a cold breakfast and canned coffee before we drive to the Oirase Gorge, pausing only to take yet more autumn leaf pictures. Oirase Gorge Arriving at Oirase Gorge, we mistake where to stop and as a U-turn is difficult on such a narrow windy road press on and finally stop in the mid-section of the gorge, Ishikedo. […]

26/07/2018 / Last updated : 06/02/2023 d.d Temple / Shrine

Osorezan, communing with the dead　恐山

Day 39, October 2016, Yagen Valley　薬研渓谷 We wake to a fine day and breakfast in the early morning sunshine. Before visiting Osorezan, our plan is to walk along a small, nearby river, so we drive a little further up the valley. The footpath, we discover, is in the pine trees and very gloomy. It runs along an old, narrow gauge railway line, now barely visible and the river can hardly be glimpsed at all through the undergrowth, so the prospect for the walk is not encouraging. In the end, we walk back along the road – there are almost no cars – and take lots of useless pictures of the […]

21/07/2018 / Last updated : 14/07/2022 d.d Japan road trip tips

Michi no Eki – Roadside Station

Sleeping in your car (Shachuhaku) On any given night, at a rough guestimate, there are scores of elderly people sleeping in their cars the length and breadth of Japan. This is not poverty or eccentricity but, rather, practicality. Plus, yes all right, a bit of eccentricity. A number of people, not all elderly but the retired have the time to travel, choose to sleep in their cars rather than spend money on hotels. This saving makes it possible for people to travel all over the country, for days, weeks or months if they so choose. For many it is sightseeing, visiting the many beautiful shrines and temples, castles, mountains, hot […]