Honshu is Japan's largest Island and contains the mega cities like Tokyo and Osaka - over 100 million people live here! But there are a few quieter spots to be found. My first stop after leaving Shikoku was Okayama and then Himeji - both towns were lovely with amazing castles and formal gardens.
Spring in Japan is the time of Sakura (Cherry Blossom) - different places in Japan have the Sakura at different times - it's very fleeting - the time scale from buds opening to the trees being bare can be as short as a few days. I spent a few days in central Honshu and was lucky enough to have an amazing day hiking the Kiso Valley and seeing some gorgeous blossoms. Mind you ringing the bear bell every km reminded you that you were still in the wilds!
The Japanese are obsessed with Cherry Bloosom and love to photograph the trees and sit under them having a picnic - this is called Hanami - the celebration of nature's temporary gift. The papers and TV have daily Cherry Blossom forecasts - letting people know when the best blossoms are on certain dates. If you're lucky enough to hit the right spot it's amazing but if you miss it by a few days like we did later in Hokkaido it's very frustrating!
A very common activity for young women is to wander round towns in kimonos - and a visit to the temple to wish for luck in love is mandatory!
My last destination in Honshu was Chiba prefecture - I had a very kind invitation from a Japanese family to visit - we had a nice hike at Mount Nokogiri followed by an amazing home cooked Japanese meal - it was a great privilege to stay in a real Japanese home - thank you Suzuki Family of Tateyama!
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My capsule hotel in Okayama - they don't look comfy but I got a great nights sleep! |
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| There was only one train to Himeji from Okayama - the Bullet train or Shinkansen as they call it here - at 280 km/h you had hardly sat down and you were there..! |
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The amazing fairytale Japanese Shogun castles - most have had to be built and rebuilt several times due to Japan's seismic nature. In fact one of the castles I had been looking foward to visiting in Kumamoto had been very badly damaged in an earthquake last year but I didn't realise that until I saw the fallen castle walls and the big no entry signs |
Himeji like other Japanese cities had a great Tourist Information office - with the added bonus of free bike hire! You just give them an email address and off you go! Crime rates are very low in Japan and theft is virtually unknown. The tourist offices speak good English - a common misconception about Japan is that no one speaks English. In fact there is a lot of decent English spoken and many signs are both in Japanese characters and English characters - so navigating your way around is very straightforward.
Spring in Japan is the time of Sakura (Cherry Blossom) - different places in Japan have the Sakura at different times - it's very fleeting - the time scale from buds opening to the trees being bare can be as short as a few days. I spent a few days in central Honshu and was lucky enough to have an amazing day hiking the Kiso Valley and seeing some gorgeous blossoms. Mind you ringing the bear bell every km reminded you that you were still in the wilds!
The Japanese are obsessed with Cherry Bloosom and love to photograph the trees and sit under them having a picnic - this is called Hanami - the celebration of nature's temporary gift. The papers and TV have daily Cherry Blossom forecasts - letting people know when the best blossoms are on certain dates. If you're lucky enough to hit the right spot it's amazing but if you miss it by a few days like we did later in Hokkaido it's very frustrating!
A very common activity for young women is to wander round towns in kimonos - and a visit to the temple to wish for luck in love is mandatory!
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| Amazing view from Mount Nokogiri |
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| Last day in Japan - hoping not to fall over the edge of the railing! |
