Category: Trips

I call this a tourist excursion this time because I took the normal tourist route of a packaged tour to a traditional tourist destination. While I normally don’t go for the package trip, due to the fact that the nature of the travel industry in Japan makes it costly to DIY by purchasing the bits […]

I did another long Seishun 18 trip, this time with the intent to visit some of the least visited prefectures, and I wanted to go up north to see Iwate. I had purchased my Seishun 18 ticket last month, but due to some change up plans, I was not able to use it. However, I […]

I have long been reading about the Isuzu Seven Islands which are actually part of Tokyo. They are actually very close – the closest, and the largest of the seven islands is Oshima. You can get there by a 25 minute flight from the Chofu airport in the suburbs west of the city, or by […]

I really loved my first adventure using the Seishun 18 ticket, so I wanted to give it a try again. My aim once again was to see how far I could go using this unlimited pass – all on local trains. This time, it was a trip up north into the heart of the tohoku […]

I took a 23km walk along the historic Nakasendo

Have you heard of JR Seishun 18?  It is basically a discount package of 5 days unlimited travel on JR, but here is the catch – it is only limited to local trains! This is like a made-for-kakueki experience, so I’m going to try to take it to the max. More about it here – Seishun 18 […]

This is Part III of my trip to Niigata. The first night that I arrived at Niigata, I went to an izakaya bar and by chance met an Australian guy that was at the bar. Since there are not so many foreigners in Niigata, we stuck up a conversation. It turns out he is an […]

This is Part II continuation of my trip to Niigata. I was surprised how cheap the ferry was – only ¥4,500 for the round-trip journey. You can purchase the ticket at the terminal, by a ticket window or automated kiosk. I chose the automated kiosk. It was only in Japanese, but still pretty easy to […]

I took a longer trip (6 days) in the middle of January to Niigata. The original idea for this trip was to go to Sado Island. I’m a student of history, and I had always been fascinated with the life of Charles Jenkins, the American soldier who had defected to North Korea in 1965. Needless […]