Iki island is reasonably rural and unknown. It has a past they would rather not talk about (which involved dolphin slaughter, but there is now a dolphin reserve on the island) and currently there is ample nature but little in terms of the convenience Japan is famous for. For us, this was just perfect as…
Category: Travel / holidays
The Quidditch World Cup
Our golden time 2017 was spent on the delightful Iki island, my new favourite place in Japan. It really was heavenly with clear skies, blue seas, ample wildlife and lush mountains and rice paddies. We needed to keep the costs down on our holiday at a traditional time of higher rates. So, we decided to…
It’s a Twenty Minute Drive Away
For Golden Week this May we spent our time camping on the very beautiful Iki island, Nagasaki prefecture. Golden Week really is golden. The name was coined by the Japanese film industry for the high ticket sales, and the Golden Week consists of four bank holidays. Combine this with a little annual leave and you…
Mount Koya
During our time in Osaka, we took a day trip to the very spiritual Mount Koya in Wakayama prefecture. This came the day after our time at Universal Studios Japan and could not have been more different! At Mount Koya we walked the 2km path to the very spiritual and important mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, where…
Cafe Hoots
On our ‘spring break’ this year we visited the second largest city in Japan, Osaka. In this buzzing metropolis, we engaged in the most touristy かわいい(cute) cultural activity possible: animal cafe visiting! Our first stop was the owl cafe, Owl Family Cafe Osaka. With a hoot hoot here and a hoot hoot there, we enjoyed…
Universal Studios Japan
Wow. What a day. I was thoroughly overstimulated and couldn’t sleep for hours after our day-trip to this famous Japanese theme park. The big not-so-hidden child in Dan was awakened as we explored Hogsmeade Harry Potter village and went on the Flying Dinosaur rollercoaster. Hogsmeade was wonderful and was really well-done by USJ! There were lovely…
Osaka and Kyoto
Osaka and Kyoto are a mere 15-minute Japanese bullet train apart. Osaka is a wild and wonderful metropolis of skyscrapers and bars. We enjoyed the views across the urban jungle from the Umeda Sky Tree building and sampled the delights of local nightlife by getting our portraits painted by an artist in a local bar….
Cirque du Soleil
In our adult lives, we have never witnessed the skill of the circus. I have vague memories as a child seeing jugglers and clowns and maybe a little trapeze, but the performances we enjoyed at Cirque du Soleil makes those clowns look like fools. We didn’t really know what at expect as the reviews for…
Fukuoka Flower Circles
Dan and I ventured to our nearest `big city` for a brilliant weekend of Asahi brewery beer touring, ramen eating, and gallery exploring. Fukuoka is Japan`s sixth largest city and a mere hour and half away from ours on the bus. That may feel like an age in the well-connected UK city scene, but for…