Ever since I moved to Gunma, I've wanted to visit the caldera of Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane. Unfortunately, I'm doomed to disappointment as the volcanic activity levels have been too high to safely allow visitors for the past 3 years. Despite this, it's still well worth the effort to make the drive up the mountain. The twisty-turny... Continue Reading →
Shibu Onsen is a 1,300 year old traditional onsen town in Nagano. It's nestled in between the mountains, bracketed between Jigokudani Monkey Park and Yudanaka Onsen. It's a beautiful area - the town is built up on a slope next to the Yokuyugawa River, and looking across the valley offers stunning views of the Japanese... Continue Reading →
Gunma Prefecture has unofficially nicknamed itself Japan's "Haniwa Prefecture" because of the many well preserved archaeological discoveries of the clay figurines around the Gunma area. Haniwa are hollow terracotta figurines made in the Kofun Period. They were made to be buried or entombed with the dead in kofun (keyhole shaped burial mounds). The figures are... Continue Reading →
I don't know how to describe the inaka lifestyle, except for to say that one of the most inaka-y things I've ever done was to drive up into the mountains and find a random river that turns out to be an onsen and hang out with a bunch of naked old men who compliment me... Continue Reading →
Chatsubomi Moss Park (チャツボミゴケ公園) is a natural area preserved by the Ramsar Convention. It was incorporated into the Nakanojo area in 2012, and is about 30 min away from the popular onsen town Kusatsu. The park is a natural wonder - beautiful to the casual visitor, but also a deeply unique and fascinating environmental landscape.... Continue Reading →
At 1,800 meters above sea level, Manza Onsen holds the title of "highest onsen town in Japan." Although, "town" might be a generous description for the small group of hotels and ryokans tucked away on the side of Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane. I've been wanting to go to Manza Onsen for over a year, but the easiest... Continue Reading →
Niigata Prefecture boasts about growing the "No. 1 Rice in Japan," so it's expected that the prefecture would also top the markets in fine sake (Japanese rice wine). The Ponshukan (ポン酒館) translates to "the museum of Japanese sake." The Ponshukan is a series of tiny sake "theme parks" in three different train station in Niigata... Continue Reading →
Imagine standing on a deserted train platform, deep underground. There is no light, except from dim florescent bars on the stone walls. The air is cold and damp, and there's a strange mist swirling out from the train tunnels onto the platform. The walls are covered in moss. All you can hear is the steady... Continue Reading →
My husband and I took a mini-vacation over a 3 day weekend to Yamanashi Prefecture. As I was scrolling through travel blogs (definitely not at work when I should have been doing work-type things) to figure out what we should do, I came across a brief mention of something that I knew I desperately had... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going on a tour through Cella Masumi, a renowned sake distillery in Suwa, Nagano. After the tour, I also got to enjoy some sippy-sips of Masumi's lovely products with my clearly very refined palate. Now what could I possibly love more than a guided tour through... Continue Reading →
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