Series: Japan Trip 2025
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Shosenkyo Gorge
My last full day in Japan was spent in the city of Kofu in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, and my daughter was back to work that day so I was on my own. I decided to take a 40-minute bus ride out to Shosenkyo Gorge. I knew that the bus left from bus stand
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Senga Spray
Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. November 2025.
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Rural Aomori
There is always a big difference between urban and rural areas, but certainly in Japan, where Tokyo is on one side of the comparison, the difference is pretty extreme. I enjoyed seeing the this row of giant radishes hanging from a pole, which is definitely not something you would find in Shinjuku City. I’m not
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Sweeping View
Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. November 2025.
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Stormclouds over Aomori
As I mentioned in the previous post, Aomori Prefecture is the northernmost prefecture on Japan’s main island of Honshu. The city of Aomori itself averages 26 feet of snow annually, more than any city in the world. I visited in November, and December–February turned out to be one of the snowiest in decades. It would
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Festival Float
Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. November 2025.
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Torii! Torii! Torii!
Takayama Inari Shrine, and its senbon torii (thousand torii), are decidedly not easy to get to without a car: three buses, a long walk, and about two-and-a-half hours later we were exploring the grounds. The “thousand” torii is symbolic, rounded up from the just over 200 torii that are actually there. Regardless, they are striking
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Inohana Castle
Chiba City, Chiba, Japan. October 2025.
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Autumn in Morioka
Morioka is a little over 300 miles north of Tokyo. My daughter and I only ended up staying there because we had a one-night gap to fill between our hotel in Tokyo and our hotel in Aomori even further north. So, it was essentially a layover in our shinkansen (bullet train) journey and we spent
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Chambered
Morioka, Iwate, Japan. November 2025.