Okinawa, Japan Travel Blogs

Heading South - To Nagasaki!
Sep 9, 2007 (15 photos)

Today I headed south of Kobe for the first time since coming to Japan. Very south in fact - off Honshu and into Kyushu to visit the first of the two A-Bomb cities on my itinerary: Nagasaki. At 6 hours, the trip down was a bit longer than I expected,& ...

Ten Years Later...
May 8, 2008 (30 photos)

Ten years later, we return to the place where our life as we know it began.  Fukuoka.  The city where we became engaged, and where our first baby was born.   It was like time travel back to our salad days.

"Danger, danger!"
Apr 20, 2007 (17 photos)

... me slight cause for concern. Only in Japan! Thankfully the view at the top didn`t disappoint, overlooking Onami-no-ike (Japan`s largest crater lake) and in the distance, the other volcanoes that I would be visiting in the proceeding few hours...or so I ...

Buried alive...
Apr 28, 2007 (20 photos)

... for a suna-yu (sand bath) but it was a bit too far to travel, and when I found out that Beppu was the other place in Japan where it was possible, there was no need anyway. So on Friday morning, I got the bus to the `Beppu Beach Sand Bath` where I was to ...

Beppu- Onsen city
Apr 7, 2008 (37 photos)

... in the food court where we found a cheap sushi place that was delicious and we discovered the wonderfulness of fried chicken meat in Japan. I'm not sure what flavouring they put on it but it was delicious! Our second day in Beppu we decided to try an ...

Arriving in Kyushu...
Apr 11, 2007 (28 photos)

... lost! I had printed out very detailed instructions on how to get to the hostel, but I made a cardinal sin when navigating in Japan - I left the train station via the wrong exit. In the end I succumbed and got a taxi, something I should have done in the ...

Meeting Tatsu...
Apr 21, 2007 (10 photos)

My legs were as stiff as a board when I woke up on Saturday morning, and the last thing I needed was another hike uphill, particularly as it was absolutely scorching outside. However, the prospect of seeing Sakurajima, the active volcano across the water ...

Japan's Europe
Sep 10, 2007 (20 photos)

... speak English. He was rather pleased that I could and so began quite a conversation! Where had I been? What did I think of Japan? Was I alone? Where was I going? What did I think of Japanese girls? In other countries, some of the questions would maybe put ...

Giggling...
Apr 15, 2007 (36 photos)

... !). Back near the train station, the `26 Martyrs Memorial` recalled how twenty six Christians were crucified in 1597 after Japan had previously banned Christianity - two of the victims were aged just twelve and thirteen. There was a nice little park ...

Winding down...
Apr 25, 2007 (15 photos)

... a theme park in Japan, there was a good old fashioned ferris wheel in the confines, though I didn`t see any "biggest in Japan" claims. Admittedly English signage is rare in these parts, so I`d hazard a guess that a "biggest ferris wheel contained-within-a- ...

Which bath shall I take among plenty of SPA
Oct 15, 2003

A visit from Anita meant that a trip somewhere in Japan was in order - so I hit on Beppu, famed for its hot springs and hot sand bath. Unfortunately (or more likely fortunately) the sand baths were shut by the time we worked up courage to go there, so we ...

Fukuoka
Sep 1, 2008 (10 photos)

... digital toilets, musical pedestrian crossings, automatic doors on the taxis, vending machines everywhere (not filled with crap). In Japan, there's always a surprise around the corner! We flew from Beijing to Fukuoka in western Japan. From here we will ...

One city, two names
Oct 18, 2003

Hakata - also known as the harder to pronounce Fukuoka, it is home to the rather cool Canal City. Ok so Canal City is just a shopping centre, but it has a canal! Obviously we went to Canal city but really, Hakata is just a city with no real charms. We ...

Hells...
Apr 16, 2007 (24 photos)

... Christians had suffered back in 1630, as 33 of them were subjected to `death by scolding` after Christianity was banned in Japan...slightly harsh really. I had a few hours to kill before I continued on towards Kumamoto, and I`d planned to get the bus ...

Snow in Kyushu...
Apr 18, 2007 (27 photos)

Without meaning to blow my own trumpet, the foresight that I showed before going to Mount Aso meant that my short stay turned out to be a memorable one...but it could have been a lot different! I was booked into the youth hostel for two nights, with ...

Japan photo special 3
Sep 5, 2004 (11 photos)

Some more random photos from mad Japan... Toilet culture Fragile Earth - the aftermath of a volcanic erruption Tea-time Matsumoto Castle Another day on Lake Toya Crossing the Iya Valley ...

Bad Facial Hair
Nov 6, 2005 (6 photos)

... managed to get off Honshu, Japan's largest and most inhabited island. Thus I got to spend a whole week in Okinawa, the country's southernmost prefecture, and perhaps the one most challenging to stereotypes of Japan. No giant skyscrapers, neon lights and ...

Ohayo Gozaimasu!
Dec 4, 2004 (48 photos)

... Headquarters (where 4,000 Japanese committed suicide when all was lost during WWII), a glass blowing place, and then headed home. Okinawa is a beautiful, relaxing, peaceful, wonderful place to visit, and I would definitely go back. In fact, we need to go ...

Ostriches in Okinawa? Who would've thought!
Oct 12, 2007 (69 photos)

... ends, but having the time of my life. Lily, Tony and I decided to fly down to the southern most prefecture in Japan, Okinawa, to spend an extra long weekend relaxing and exploring the various islands. Unfortunately when we arrived at the airport in Osaka, ...

Kun, Khun, and Ghin
Jan 31, 2005 (1 photos)

Okay I'm going to cut to the chase here... as I've been sitting in this Internet cafe for a long time today. We took the public bus from Kratie to Phnom Penh (the capital city of Cambodia). I won't describe P.P. here, as I will be spending quality ...

Kagoshima with Sayaka and family
Dec 13, 2007 (27 photos)

... raw variety is also bit hard for me to swallow. Before I finish off, I must mention a very important fact about Japan:  the public toilets.  They are NASA-engineered, AI driven super-machines catering to your every nether-region need!  ...

Mission(s) Accomplished
Nov 22, 2007 (28 photos)

... transport nonetheless. Having arrived in Kyoto I got reacquainted with the super efficient ITCJ (International Tourist Centre of Japan) who booked us accommodation, allowing Meg to get acquainted, and me reacquainted, with a Japanese ryokan, always ...

Okinawa
Jul 10, 2007 (11 photos)

To be continued

Getting some training
Sep 8, 2005 (4 photos)

Awoken rudely from the land of nod by my alarm at 6:30am in order to get the Shinkansen (bullet train) across Japan to the island of Kyushu in the west. After a quick shower I felt refreshed and headed out to get some breakfast at 7:30. Headed across to ...

I predict a riot
Sep 12, 2009

Hi guys, Another update! No massage last week...TIA after all and so I shall have to go some other time...What a week though..it started off with some farm work; shoveling bull shit into holes for cabbage..glamorous. The children celebrated the ...

I am here!
Sep 20, 2006

I don:t have much time to write (or even to find the stupid apostrophe button on this wacked japanese keyboard) but I thought that I should let everyone know that I�@made it here safe and sound with pink luggage accounted for! I meet my host family in ...

Winding down
Nov 5, 2007 (12 photos)

... a box of gifts and ship it to the US and sleep.  It was a wonderful day!  It's Monday night here in Japan and I just finished a long day of meeting with the Mayor of Kagoshima City, Visiting the local newspaper and visting the Governer of the ...

Oranda!
Mar 30, 2006

... een Portugees schip per ongeluk de haven binnenzeilde. Het begin van een levendige handelsperiode maar ook de eerste kennismaking van Japan met pistolen en kanonnen en natuurlijk met het Christendom. En dat kan natuurlijk niet goed gaan dus werden alle ...

And the Adventure Continues
Feb 9, 2009 (48 photos)

Well, so after Nanna (Manna) left we were sad to realize that was the end of our visitors for awhile.  Next came New Years.  We celebrated with some new friends to bring in the new year.  Since we couldn't do the New York count down we did ...

Will my knees ever forgive me?
Aug 27, 2009

Hey again, Another week in paradise. For those of you who are interested my number out here is 0784596708 and i think the code is +256 - always good to get a text or two from you all back at home! Jinja and White water rafting were AMAZING! ...