Volcanic gas panic
23 October 2016
Climbing Tateyama on the Kurobe alpine route
Today I climbed one of Japans 3 sacred mountains located on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. The alpine route goes from Toyama, across, above and....
Places to eat
22 October 2016
Eating Okonomiyaki in Toyama
Toyama has lots of places to eat. I identified 3 places I want to eat at and I am only here 2 nights. Such a terrible dilemma. I would still rate ....
Huge hotel room
22 October 2016
From Nagano to Toyama by Shinkansen
Now I am in Toyama, and have the biggest hotel room I have ever had in Japan. Just think of all the activities I can do in here! Its going to be a....
City in decline
21 October 2016
The Nagano branch of the Tokyu department store
I am convinced, Nagano is a city in serious decline. Perhaps this is the future for much of Japan, with a declining population, a reluctance to al....
It happened again
21 October 2016
Hiking the hills behind Zenkoji
I really only intended to visit the big Temple. The Zenkoji temple is the main attraction in Nagano, so I thought I had better go take a look at t....
Still just a station
20 October 2016
Eating pasta at the Nagano Shinkansen station
I have checked google, websites, google maps which these days shows you which areas of cities to find shops and restaurants by conveniently color ....
Not too early for color
20 October 2016
Taking the bus from Nagano to Togakushi
Apparently the colorful leaf season hysteria does not start for weeks. No one told the place I went to today. Because of colorful leaves, lots of ....
Public convenience
19 October 2016
Exploring the covered shopping streets of Nagano
Nagano is very quiet. I think everything is concentrated around the station, I walked a few loops away from it but always ended up coming back. Th....
Naga-no-yes
19 October 2016
Taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano
Yes, I am now in Nagano. You may remember this as the city which hosted the 1998 winter olympics. Except no one remembers the winter olympics. Who....