On our recent trip to Japan one of the things which made travelling around Japan really easy was using a Japan Rail Pass. When you have a JR Pass you can easily reserve seats for your preferred train services, switch and change your reservations and also go around Japan on the unreserved train carriages. In … Read more
One of the times I am most relaxed and at peace is when I am in the pristine beauty of Alpine country. Prior to arriving at Kai Matsumoto, we had started off our day in Takayama before driving to Shinhotaka Ropeway. The ropeway climbs over 1000 metres up the Hotake Mountain Range to Nishihotakaguchi Station … Read more
Walking to see snow monkeys in the Jigokudani Monkey Park was like a dream come true. After seeing the iconic image of the Japanese snow monkeys we had finally achieved our goal to see them with our own eyes, and they did not disappoint. The group of 30 to 40 monkeys was fascinating to observe … Read more
On our recent Autumn trip to Japan a great day out which I planned and the weather helped to come to fruition was to ascend the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, which links the Nagano prefecture with Toyama. While you can traverse the full length, we decided to make a base in Shinano Omachi and then … Read more
On our recent Japan trip our route was set to pass through the small city of Matsumoto in the Nagano Prefecture (220km / 137 mi by road north west of Tokyo) and we took the opportunity to stop in for a few hours and visit Matsumoto Castle and surrounds. When I was planning our trip … Read more