Japan is possibly the culturally richest, most beautiful, and easy-to-travel country I have ever been to. It is everything we are not: harmony, efficiency, peacefulness, kindness, and this is probably why a trip to this country will not leave you unchanged. You should avoid to judge Japan: it is a place different from any other, it has a different history. The rules and traditions Japanese people abided by for centuries, and that are still enforced today, are too ancient, too much intertwined with their culture and spirituality that it is impossible to be bothered by them – even if you know immediately that you cannot, naturally, comply with all of them. And no matter how many contradictions and rigidities there still are in Japan's society (that only a superficial eye would label as retrograde), you, as a foreigner, will always be forgiven, enabling any tourist visiting this archipelago to experience an extraordinary and instructive journey.
Over the five weeks we spent there last summer, we traveled 1,500 km from Kyoto to the small island of Amami Oshima, and we got to live three weeks in wonderful Tokyo, enjoying an amazing concentrate of Japanese history, beauty, culture, and lifestyle. I hope this website helps you plan a trip that I wish everyone could take at least once in their lifetime.
I start by recounting the itinerary of our long trip, with a little description of each place we visited, and then I dedicate a whole section to Tokyo, since it basically is a combination of many cities into one, incredible metropolis. I also provide some general information on the trip planning, some practical info (train tickets, car rental, wi-fi, language), and two big sections on accommodation and food. Lastly, I have added a small page on the onsen and sento traditions, which are a big part of Japanese culture, and included a gallery of the many photos I took during our long month there.
楽しめ (tanoshime - enjoy it)!
