Japan Experiences

Since I am using Google+ more and more, I will continue this on my page about my travel to Japan. See you there :-)

Since my trip starts in January next year, there is still a lot of time to prepare. I enjoy to talk to others about their suggestions for my trip. That way I got a lot of valuable inspirations.

Things are pretty easy for the more "normal" holiday like stays in Tokyo, Kagoshima, Nara and Aomori/Sendai. I will just get there and see what the area has to offer. I know Tokyo already pretty well, so it is already pretty clear what to do. From Kagoshima, I will definitely make a trip to Kumamoto, maybe also to Miyazaki. I'll see when I'm there.

So the main task to prepare now is about the Shikoku trail. There I will be walking the Shikoku pilgrimage - about 1200km by foot. I started reading books about it, to get a feeling how this works. Even so it seems there is already a lot of information about it on the web, most of it is not very helpful and incomplete. Even when I worked through a Japanese guidebook with a friend from Tokyo, more additional questions were raised than answered. Looks like I just have to start and see what happens.

Clearly, the most important thing for this are the shoes. I already spent hours in a shop, trying dozens of different types of shoes. Interestingly, every sales person had a different opinion, which shoe is correct for such a trip. I finally chose the Hanwag Arrow. It is light and is even more comfortable than my sports shoes. Socks are from Smartwool

For underwear I will go with Odlo. I know this brand from my free climbing times from 30 years ago. Some of the clothes I bought at that time I can still wear today. Temperature forecast for February in Shikoku is 2 - 10 degrees. It does rain about 6 days that month. So clothes to keep me warm and dry are very important, especially during the walk along the pacific coast.

For no particular reason, I want to record my walk with a GPS device. The one that was suggested to me is the Garmin eTrex. It will be available in 3 weeks. Technical specs sound really interesting, so it should be also useful after my trip to Japan.

As a camera I will have a look at the Fuji Finepix 600. Since it also is not available, yet, I have to wait. Maybe I even buy it in Japan. That would be a marvelous reason to go to Akihabara ;-)

It is always exciting to plan a holiday trip. But planing to fly to Japan is something special. This time I plan to walk the Shikoku pilgrimage. No, not for religious reasons, just to find some time away the trouble of everyday life, and to enjoy Japan in a more traditional way. Compared to the countryside, the bigger cities in Japan are very western like. They call it modern, I call it noisy, hectic and impersonal, as any bigger city anywhere in the world. Yes sure, there are nice Japanese like places in Tokyo, but in my opinion, the real Japan happens outside of it.

The conclusion is, to leave it to the countryside. It is really amazing what this can offer. Wonderful scenery, very kind and helpful people and great traditional handcrafted products. And not to forget, very nice Onsen.

Since I speak a little Japanese, and can read some basic Kanji, I can find my way and can talk with local people for recommendations about local food, walks and local products. This is always the best way to get to know the area where you are. When you don't speak Japanese, I can recommend to get some information in advance in your language. I almost always go to the tourist info in the government building in Shinjuku to see what they offer. From the top of the building you can also have a nice view over Tokyo, and with some luck even see the Fuji-san in the distance. Another tourist information, where I often made my hotel reservations for my trips, is near Tokyo mainstation. One thing to get before going to Japan is the Railpass. It can be bought only outside of Japan. And definitley check out Japanese National Tourist Organisation (JNTO).

This time I make the hotel reservations in advance. A good site I can recommend is Japanese Guesthouses. Another recommendation I did not use myself yet: Agoda.

Other than the pilgrimage, I will travel from Kagoshima in the south of Kyushu (southernmost island of the big 4 islands) to Aomori in the north of Honshu (the main island). I can't wait to get there ;-)