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In August of 2015 Karl and I went on our dream vacation to Japan. We spent 20 days in Japan and every day was amazing. The sights, sounds, food, people, and accommodations were all fantastic. We even got to visit some friends while in Tokyo and Naoshima. I did my best to chronicle our journey from day to day in a series of blog posts which I am listing in chronological order below for any that may be interested in checking out our adventure.

Our Google Travel Map – This shows most of the areas and attractions we visited; major train stations, and some other places of interest.

Tokyo

Tokyo, capital of Japan, and one of the largest cities in the world is a super metropolis that never seems to sleep. Great for shopping, dining, and nightlife.

Takayama

A rural mountain city located in the heart of the Japanese Alps. Best known for it’s beautifully preserved old town with whole streets of buildings dating back from the Edo Period (1600-1868).

While in Takayama we lodged in a traditional Japanese Inn (Ryokan), visited an outdoor museum, and went on a bus tour to Ainokura and Shirakawa-go, two beautiful mountain villages with Gassho-style houses. The train ride through the mountains to and from Takayama was beyond gorgeous.

Kyoto

The historic city of Kyoto is located in a valley in the central part of the island of Honshu. It was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years ranging from 794 – 1868. Over the centuries it was destroyed by wars and fires but many historic temples and shrines remain.

While near the top of our must-visit list, Kyoto was a bit of a disappointment primarily due to the difficulty of transportation compared to everywhere else we visited. The primary method of transportation are buses instead of trains and key attractions are spread out around the city which equals lots of time spent waiting and riding buses. There’s a subway system that we didn’t utilize but that I will investigate if we return. Our Kyoto highlights included visiting several temples and shrines, a cultural variety show at Gion Corner, and a fantastic self check-in apartment we found on AirBnB. Located in Gion, it was the most spacious accommodation we lodged in and came fully stocked with all sorts of goodies.

Okayama

Capital city of Okayama Prefecture, it’s a major transportation hub, and is best known for Korakuen Garden, ranked one of the three best landscape gardens in Japan.

Karl and I visited Himeji Castle while traveling to Okayama. Once in Okayama we met our friend Taiki and spent the evening visiting the Korakuen Garden and singing our hearts out in a Japanese Karaoke parlor. Okayama would not of been on our list of places to visit had it not been a necessary stopover for getting to Naoshima, but we enjoyed exploring another Japanese city and Okayama had a unique charm.

Naoshima

Naoshima is a small island town known for its many contemporary art museums and public art installations. Most of the museums are designed by Tadao Ando, a famous Japanese architect, and are designed in a way that creates harmony between the landscape and structure. These buildings are as much works of art as the art they contain, and the museum collections are impressive. The three Benesse House museums include fantastic works by Claude Monet, Walter De Maria, and James Turrell.

We visited Naoshima primarily to visit our friend Taiki, but the art scene and beautiful island views made it one of our favorite stops. We lodged in a Japanese beach cottage, were treated to a traditional Japanese Barbecue, and visited several museums including the sprawling Art House Project. I wish we’d had an extra day to lounge on the beach. The views were amazing!

Osaka

Osaka is the third largest city in Japan, and capital of Osaka Prefecture.

We spent one night in Osaka to split our return trip from Naoshime to Tokyo. We spent the night in Minami (Namba) close to the Dotonbori Canal, a popular nightlife area that we enjoyed strolling through. It was a lively area that we would love to return to.

Tokyo

Our last few days in Tokyo were spent visiting DisneySea, and souvenir shopping. We originally wanted to visit both Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea but chose to visit just DisneySea, which is unique to Tokyo, due to time constraints. It was an interesting experience with a very different feel from the parks at Disney World. It had some very interesting features, including a cool Jules Verne area with a steam-punk vibe, but Disney parks in the U.S. are better. I think our day would of been better spent visiting more cultural attractions, but Karl was glad we went. (I’m sticking my tongue our at you! –Karl, xoxoxoxo)