28/12/2020 / Last updated : 04/01/2021 d.d Extra Edition-Okinawa

Canoeing Kura River, Iriomote Island クーラ川

Day 7 Breakfast at 8, again heavy on fish but it is fine. After breakfast, those who are going canoeing assemble at 9. The sky is overcast but it is not raining. The young lady, who doubles as a waitress, drives us a couple of kilometres to the canoeing spot. I was surprised that we had to climb over a fence and scramble down a bank into the mangroves in order to reach the stashed canoes. Canoe Trip on Kura river There are only two other people for this jaunt, but the young lady has, unfortunately, brought one set too few paddles. D. and I therefore have a double canoe […]

24/12/2020 / Last updated : 27/12/2020 d.d Extra Edition-Okinawa

Iriomote-jima, Urauchi River Hiking　西表島浦内川

Day 6 Up around 7 am and start the day with a quick convini breakfast in our hotel room. This is a concrete box, even on the inside. Taking the ferry to Iriomote island After checking out, we walk to the ferry terminal to take the ferry to Uehara on Iriomote Island. However, as we had been warned, due to inclement weather the ferry to Uehara is not running. The route of the Uehara ferry is outside the shelter of the islands, so the sea is too rough when the wind is from the north, especially in winter. Passengers for this ferry are then, routinely, transferred to the Ohara ferry […]

30/08/2020 / Last updated : 30/08/2020 d.d Drive Shikoku Area

Befu gorge べふ峡

October 31st. Yasu michi no eki Yasu michi no eki is a little noisy, due to the piped music, until around 9 pm and the local youth use it as a gathering spot, but it calms down after 10. It is then quiet enough until the farmers start delivering produce around 6. Behind the michi no eki building is a beach with playgrounds for kids. There are also restaurants, so for shachuhaku it has up and downsides. In summer it must be far too busy. We start our day with a walk along the beach on a wooden boardwalk and realize this must be quite a popular place for families […]

18/08/2020 / Last updated : 24/08/2020 d.d Drive Shikoku Area

Yusuhara – Architectural wonders in the mountains – and Yasui Gorge 梼原、安居渓谷

October 30th. Yusuhara michi no eki Yusuhara michi no eki , against expectations, transpires to be a good shachuhaku spot. The upper part of the onsen car park, just below the hotel, is quiet and dark and not really so far from the toilet. A good night, with a very beautiful, starry sky. The stars are one of the pluses of getting up in the night. No, there aren’t any others. Yusuhara Town In the morning, we drop down the hill into Yusuhara town to look around. Yusuhara is an interesting place due to the number of unusual buildings designed by Kuma Kengo, of Tokyo Olympic Stadium fame. In addition […]

14/12/2019 / Last updated : 17/09/2020 d.d Drive Tohoku Area

Mt.Chokai Waterfalls and Namahage Demons　鳥海山、男鹿

May 29th. Mototaki Fukuryusui A wet night at Kisakata michi no eki but by morning the weather is clearing. Mt. Chokai is still a mass of towering, grey cloud but there are patches of blue out over the Nihonkai (Japan sea). We set off for Mototaki Fukuryusui. This is about 15 minutes’ drive from the michi no eki. This is a natural spring, that forms many small waterfalls. It is fed by the numerous rivulets emerging from the subterranean springs of Mt. Chokai. The whole area is covered in a luxuriant moss due to the damp and shade. There is a pleasant ten minute or so walk through the woods […]

02/09/2019 / Last updated : 25/08/2020 d.d Drive Shikoku Area

Nakatsu Gorge – Niyodo Blue　中津渓谷 − 仁淀ブルー

November 3rd. Bios Ogata michi-no-eki It is a national holiday and Bios Ogata is busy very early. We go for a short walk and watch the surfers, far away as the beach is very wide. There is also a flotilla of fishing boats arrayed with banners moving slowly, line astern. Suddenly the lead craft breaks away, very fast, and turns around to head back towards the port. All the rest of the boats follow suit, turning in opposite directions alternately and heading back the way they had come towards the port. Clearly some kind of festival but too far away to figure out what it was all about. Leaving the […]

21/07/2019 / Last updated : 24/08/2020 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum and Shomyo Falls　立山称名滝

October 18th. Tateyama Caldera Museum We wake to bright sunshine around 7.30 after a quiet night at Tateyama station. To start the day, we visit the Tateyama Caldera Museum or exhibition centre. This does not open until 9.30 but a friendly gentleman allows us in, even though it is barely a quarter past. Once inside, he explains to us the geological features of the caldera and the reason the government, local or national, both perhaps, I am not sure, have been working for 100 years to minimize the devastation that will occur if another eruption and destructive lava flow happen. It is obvious, from the scale models, that such an […]

13/01/2019 / Last updated : 17/09/2020 d.d Drive Chubu Area

Shiraito no taki and Aokigahara　白糸の滝、青木ヶ原

Asagirikogen michi-no-eki Day 68 Despite being 900 meters high in November, it was a warm night. Fujisan looks grey and ominous this morning. The michi-no-eki Asagirikogen is busy though it is before 7am. Even tour busses are pulling in to unload, mainly elderly, passengers to use the toilets. What time did they leave their hotels? We head out early, though clearly, not as early as some. Shiraito no taki – Shiraito Waterfall D. is anxious to get to Shiraito no taki before the crowds as it is a very famous spot. We succeed in this and get to the parking area before the attendants so, free parking for a refreshing […]