Japan

November 3 2023

Tokyo

Salam from Bali

Our time in Japan has come to an end. We’ve traveled about 4,000 kilometers, and we’re presently on the Indonesian Island Bali. We can’t belive how fast one month is over. Have fun reading!

Cheers

Alicia & Marco

Returning our Suzuki Every

Thursday marks the end of our epic Japan Road Trip adventure as we bid farewell to our trusty Suzuki Every. It’s been an incredible journey spanning over 4000 kilometers across the diverse landscapes of Southwestern Japan. We’ve had our fair share of off-road escapades, city explorations, animal sightings, volcano overnighter, temples, awesome people, and scenic drives along the coastline. It’s been an unforgettable road trip that we’ll cherish for years to come. Attached are some pictures of how we transformed our small car into our cozy bed for the night. We’ll miss you, Little Suzuki. We had a blast with it.

The Arrival in Tokyo

After leaving the Japan campus at the Narita Train Station, we stopped to enjoy a delicious bowl of ramen before embarking on our 1 1/2 hour train ride to our hotel in Tokyo. Once we arrived in the Otsuk region of Tokyo, we were thrilled to discover a Michelin Star Ramen restaurant just a 5 minute walk from our hotel. The next morning, we decided to check out the restaurant and found that there were around 15 people waiting in line. The wait time was estimated to be around 40 minutes, but we decided it was worth it. After all, where else in the world can you enjoy a Michelin Star lunch for only €6?

Tokyo by night and Onsen recovery

On Friday, we met Fiona and Christian again and explored the Tokyo nightlife in the Shibuya and Shinjuku regions. Not many words needed to describe this. The morning after was tough, and we were glad to have a free onsen in our hotel to recover. Marco stayed there until the cleaning team went in, so he was able to take some rare pictures from the inside of the onsen.

Cosplay and Ramen Festival

During our stay last Saturday, we stumbled upon a Cosplay convention that was held in a nearby park. As we walked around, we immediately noticed that we had been transported to a different world. Photographers were lining up to get the perfect shots of their favorite Cos Heroes, while Cosplay enthusiasts were taking pictures together in their matching outfits from various series. After this exciting experience, we decided to attend the Tokyo Ramen Festival, which featured 15 Ramen stands from different regions in Japan. You can look up the Ramen stands on their website and try the ones that you like the most. All of the Ramen we tasted were delicious, and one of them could have been the best Ramen we had during our trip to Japan, but it’s difficult to make such a claim.

Goodbye Tokyo, goodbye Japan

It’s Sunday, our last day in Japan. For lunch we headed to Ichiran, a famous ramen chain, to have our last ramen in Japan. After exploring the city a little more, we met Christian and Fiona at the Ueno District, where we had dinner and some beer together and a round of Mario Kart at 10:00 PM in the evening we made our way to the Airport and sadly left this wonderful country.

Final Thoughts on Japan

Japan might be to be the most camper-friendly country we have ever traveled to. Finding a safe overnight spot is easy and convenient. If you’re looking for regional attractions, Michi-no-ekis are worth checking out. The landscapes are stunning and the locals are friendly, making for a unique experience. And if you need a shower, you can indulge in a full spa experience for just a few Euros, rather than settling for a cold shower. Plus, the food in the countryside is not only delicious, but also very affordable. With options like Ramen, Gyoza, Soba noodles, and Bento boxes, you never have to worry about lunch or dinner. You can also get fresh local fruits everywhere you go. They even show you the farmers you buy the fruits from at some locations. Below are some impressions from local Michi-no-ekis.

Food and Drinks

Japanese Cars

We remember the first few days, when we smiled every time a small little Japanese Car turned around the next corner. Marco made a little Car collection and here are some of his favourite picks of Japanese Cars.

That’s it for this week’s blog post. Thanks if you made it down here! Let’s see what the new week will bring.

You don’t want to miss any upcoming Blog Post?

Enter your Email address below and we will send you an info.

October 28 2023

Japan Week 3

Alicia & Marco Half Year Off, Japan 0

Konnichiwa from Tokyo

Our time in Japan is almost over. We’ve traveled about 4,000 kilometers, and we’re presently in Tokyo. We can’t belive how fast 3 weeks are over. Have fun reading!

Arigato Gozaimasu

Alicia & Marco

Exploring Beppu and Mount Aso

On Tuesday, we stopped in Beppu at some hot terminal pools described with wonderful red water. As we arrived, tourist buses came and supported loads of tourists. The cube was very long, and we were surprised by the many Western tourists around this area. We grabbed a ramen in Bapu and made new plans.

We decided to visit Mount Aso in the Kuju Aso National Park. Our plan was to find a place to stay on the highest active volcano in Japan. We found a nice sleeping spot on the volcano and headed for the crater on Wednesday morning. After seeing the crater and the steam coming out of it from right next to it, we saw a little wooden walk, and we decided to go for it. It ended up in a 2-hour walk, a whole round around the crater with the best views from higher peaks down to the crater. We only saw two other hikers, maybe 1 1/2 hours into the walk. As we returned in the car, it was around 10:00 in the morning, and the first tourist buses arrived. We were very lucky to have this volcano on our whole round around it, almost to our own.

Fukuoka: From Street Food to Bento Boxes

Following our enjoyable hike on Mount Arthur volcano, we were eager to return to city life. We promptly booked a hotel in Fukuoka and made our way there. Our primary objective was to dine at Sometai, which is a collection of small food stands along the street where locals sell their delicious cuisine. Upon arriving in Fukuoka during lunchtime, we indulged in some local cuisine. As the day turned into night, the food stands opened up. We explored the Canal River area, stopping at some Yatai along the way. Eventually, we settled into a cozy Yati and savored some Yaki Ramen – a well-known Fukuoka specialty where the ramen is served without soup and heated on a pan.

On Thursday morning in Fukuoka, while passing by the road, we noticed small stands appearing around 11:00. Japanese workers from the nearby buildings lined up at these stands to buy something. We were curious and approached the stands to find out that they were selling Bento boxes. Bento boxes are small lunch boxes that people often carry while going to work or on long journeys like a Shinkansen ride. We decided to try out the food from two stands, one run by a young lady and the other by an elderly married couple. The food from the elderly couple’s stand was hot and delicious – a pleasant surprise from such a little box.

Coastal Shrine Exploration

Later that day, we drove out from Fukuoka to the North to explore some Shinto shrines right beside the sea. We saw one with 976 and headed to see a beautiful bridge over the harbor, where Marco bought his Haku pinmen. On Thursday night, we found a nice little spot right beside the sea. It was raining a lot that night, so we hit the road that day. We looked up and saw the weather was good on Saturday, and we were around the mountain Rookie Region. We wanted to hike the mountain twice, so we hit the road and went for it.

Chilling Hike to the Summit of Mount Tsurugi

It was a freezing night at the trailhead of the Thoroughly Sun, and as we started our hike, we saw on the thermometer it was five degrees Celsius, a little frosty. We continued the hike, and on the top, another thermometer told us we had 1 degree Celsius. We went inside the Wanderers Hut to have a nice little coffee provided by Toshimi, who is running the Hut on the hill, followed by a hot, delicious miso soup. We were ready for the cold again.

Savoring the Delights of Sakura Beef in Hyogo Prefecture

While traveling further north, we passed by Kobe but didn’t want to deal with city traffic. So, when Marco expressed his desire to have some beef, we headed to a quaint restaurant in the Hyogo Prefecture, known for raising famous Kobe cattle. The restaurant was amazing! Even though they didn’t have Kobe beef, they served Wagyu beef from another breed called Sakura beef. Upon entering, the personnel greeted us warmly and showed us to our private room with a grill inside the table. We were given the meat to grill ourselves, which made the experience all the more enjoyable. The beef was delicious, and we had an excellent time.

Motorcycle Enthusiasm in Japan

On Sunday, we were awakened by the sound of motorcycles passing by. The weather was perfect, and while sipping his coffee, Marco made a habit of checking out each motorcycle that went by. Some of them stopped right next to us, and Marco took the opportunity to get a closer look at some of the bikes. It was during this time that he met Toshimi, who spoke a little bit of English. Toshimi told us that there was a motorcycle meeting about 5 kilometers away from where we were. Since we had no other plans for the day, we decided to head over to the meeting. The location was really nice, and there were a lot of vintage and classic bikes on display. There was even an old Volkswagen van supplying coffee to everyone. We wandered through the rows of motorcycles and ran into Toshimi again, who was thrilled to see us again. After chatting for a bit, it was time to move on for us.

There were also a lot of funny Japanese cars like the daihatsu Mira on the parking lot and Toshimi the owner of the Mira was so spurprised that Marco liked his car so much he let him sit in for a picture. What a nice surprising stop this was! After the spontaneous visit to the motorcycle event, we continued our trip towards Obama, a small coastal town. We drove the coast north from here towards the Echizen region. We ended our Sunday with a lovely visit to a Onsen (520 JPY / 3€ per person), located by the coast with a beautiful view of the sunset. It was a great way to unwind and relax.

Katsuyama Castle, and a Mystical Forest Shrine

We began our Monday morning by visiting a Montbell shop located beside a Michinoku store. Montbell is a Japanese brand that specializes in outdoor clothing and equipment. We were able to find everything we needed for our upcoming hiking and camping trip. As we continued our drive, we spotted a castle-shaped structure on the horizon. Intrigued, we made a spontaneous decision to visit the katsuyama castle and learned about its history. The pictures depicted farmers being attacked by foreign armies, but the castle had successfully defended the country. Other country same story like in our Middle Ages. It was an interesting and informative visit. Right next to the castle, we saw a little narrow Rd. leading into the woods. It looked very Mystic, and we had no choice but to drive this road. We drove around one or two kilometers to the shrine in the woods. We couldn’t draw further, so we parked our car and walked the last bit to the shrines and temples in the middle of the forest. Walking along Mystic Rd towards the shrine in the forest, one can’t help but feel the friendly and peaceful environment. The soothing sounds of the forest transport you to a different time when samurais from the castle used to walk the same road to offer prayers at the shrines. It fills you with a sense of humility and reverence.

Road to Hakusan National Park

While on our way to Hakusan National Park, our minds wandered back to ancient times with samurais, temples, and forests. We stumbled upon a small, winding road through the mountains that was a perfect play of autumn colors and sunshine. Suddenly, we spotted a small sign with a monkey on it. Alicia suggested that there might be monkeys and as we turned the next corner, we saw a group of monkeys sitting in the trees beside a parking lot where a few cars had already stopped to photograph them. We joined in and watched the monkeys play and eat fruits from the trees. The sight of little monkeys haggling around was especially entertaining. They were quite clumsy, but it only added to the fun. We observed them for maybe 15 or 20 minutes. Coach arrived. He backed in front of the monkeys, a lady from the bus screamed and shouted to back in further, and a group of tourists came out of the bus. The monkeys saw this and the chief of them screamed a little, and then all the monkeys came down from the tree and went back into the hills. This was also our sign to move on.

Exploring the Kamikochi Region

On Tuesday, we visited Kamikochi, a place inaccessible by car. We parked our car near Hiraya Onsen and caught the first bus at 6:30 am to Kamikochi. We were lucky to have arrived early, as we hiked for three hours covering 12 km across the beautiful landscapes with almost no tourists around. However, while heading back to the bus stop, we noticed a large crowd of tourists that had arrived by then. We were happy to have started early. Since we had to return our car on Thursday, we took up the challenge of driving to Japan campus space and used Google Maps without toll roads. It suggested an eight-hour drive, perfect for our three-day plan. We started our journey in an All Suzuki car, and we were soon greeted by the winding mountain roads and beautiful autumn colors. As we turned a 180-degree curve, we were surprised to find some monkeys enjoying the warm sunshine and delousing each other on the road. Sorry for disturbing you little monkeys!

Japanese Shoping Mall Adventures

During our visit to Aeon Mall, we decided to explore the area and grab some food. We stumbled upon a great ramen and Gyoza spot. After finishing our meal, we stumbled upon the arcade and gaming section. The experience was amazing. Marco had a blast playing Mario Kart with his friend Toshimi and was fascinated with the Anpanman figures.

That’s it for this week’s blog post. Thanks if you made it down here! Let’s see what the new week will bring.

Food and Drinks

You don’t want to miss any upcoming Blog Post?

Enter your Email address below and we will send you an info.

October 17 2023

Japan Week 2

Alicia & Marco Half Year Off, Japan 0

Konnichiwa Oita!

We’re currently at half-time here in Japan. We’ve traveled about 1.500 kilometers, and we’re presently in Oita, 2h away from Fukuoka. The fuel costs are meager in Japan; one liter costs only around 1 €. What is more expensive than fuel are the tolls on more significant highways. Once we’re done here, we’ll turn north again and head back towards Tokyo.

Have fun reading!

Arigato Gozaimasu

Alicia & Marco

Lousy weather and animal encounters

Week 2 in Japan starts with lousy weather. With our first Blog post written, we start the day driving along the rainy coast of the Mie Prefecture towards the Nachi Waterfall. On the way, we find another small local stamp rally as we stop at an observation deck. There were no better plans for the day, so we checked the other stamp locations, and suddenly, three monkeys crossed the street before us. A few corners further, some red crabs sat on the street. It’s amusing where those little stamp rallies lead you. Ultimately, we didn‘t find the stamp, but we saw monkeys and crabs… Later that day, another monkey crossed the street very slowly, so we managed to take a picture.

Further south, we found a lovely Shinto shrine named Hananoiwaya with beautiful red portals. We arrived at the waterfall almost at sunset, and no one else was there; even the parking attendants were at the end of their work, so we got free parking there.

Testing our off-road limits

It stopped raining in the night, and we woke up on Tuesday morning with a blue sky, white clouds, and warm sunshine. We continued our drive along the coastline with perfect weather. We saw some nice rock formations at a Michi-no-Eki and took a selfie with Japanese girls traveling by bus. On a map beside the road showing the local countryside, we found a mark with a waterfall and headed inland to see it. We drove and drove, and as we looked on Google Maps, we noticed that we missed the waterfall. We turned around, but Marco saw an interesting little branch towards a stony riverbed—the perfect spot for a coffee break. Everything went well, and we parked the little Suzuki Every on good, hard ground. It went so well that Marco wanted to push the limits further… But what do you expect if you drive a small car with rear-wheel drive and 10cm wide street tires? That’s right. The Suzuki got stuck. There was one lonely fisherman with a 4WD about 1km away. If we couldn’t solve the problem ourselves, we would have to ask him for help. We took it as training for Western Australia, and Marco started to search for some wood, dig the gravel away, underpin the rear tires, and slowly but surely, we made our way out of the small gravel pit and parked on the hard sones again—time for a refreshing bath in the beautiful blue river. In the end, everything went well, and we will take it as a sign not to overshoot our cars and skills in off-road riding.

Familiar faces in Osaka

We woke up with lovely sunshine 100 km south of Osaka. After a little beach walk, we were ready for a ride towards Osaka. Plan for the day: Meet Alicia‘s brother and girlfriend, who are traveling Japan by Shinkansen in Osaka. We booked a hotel near Osaka Castle and went straight there. We arrived at 10 AM, so we had 5 hours to go until we could check in our room. We went straight to the Dotonbori District and met with Christian and Fiona. What a feeling to talk German to someone again! We discovered the city together and returned to the hotel for check-in. The room was excellent and even had a Japanese-style dining table in it. But we had no time to lose and met again with the two at Tsutenkaku Tower.

After a beer, we searched for an okonomiyaki restaurant (like an omelet with cabbage grilled right before you). The first one or two were closed, so we ended up in something that looked like a Japanese grandma’s kitchen. There wasn‘t even a menu, only Japanese writings on the wall. We told her our wishes with the translation app, which functioned semi-good. Alicia‘s brother ordered one okonomiyaki with chicken, and what he got was only some grilled chicken. No rice, no noodles, no sauce, just grilled chicken. Ultimately, we paid around 6000 JPY (40€) for three beers, a Coke, two okonomiyaki with only egg and cabbage, and the grilled chicken. Quite expensive this semi-good food experience.

After this disappointing experience, we went to the Tsutenkaku Tower to see the Osaka skyline by night, which was lovely. The next stop was a nice Shushi restaurant beside the tower named Rokusen. The sushi was fantastic, and we also did a small sake tasting. The night with Christian and Fiona was excellent, and we think our paths might cross again somewhere else in Japan.

Back to nature

One day and night in Osaka was enough for us, and Japanese nature pulled us away from the cities again. The plan was to eat Kobe in Kobe, but we had enough of driving a car through city traffic and went over Awaji Island straight to Shikoku Island, where you can find some of the remotest parts of Japan. We planned to hike the Tsurugi-san with its 1,955 m. The way to the trailhead was quite a surprise, and we drove endless curves on a small mountain street for two hours in the dark. Finally, we made it to our sleeping spot, and after a cold night, we had a fresh, sunny morning with around 7 degrees Celsius. After our coffee, we started the hike to the top, and right before the top, we reached a small Shinto shrine where we wrote our first ema wood plaque. You could write wishes on these beautiful signs and hook them beside the shrines. We continued our hike and reached the summit with the best weather. Because of the weather and the nice paths, we continued our hike towards Mount Jirogyu. Ultimately, we went down by Cablecare; only one seat, no belt, but speakers with nice calming Japanese sounds. We were thrilled and exhausted; what a fantastic Friday.

Hiking Round 2

Because we liked the hike so much, we decided to hike Mount Ishizuchi on Saturday. There was rain forecasted for midday, so we wanted to walk early in the morning. So again, we drove to the trailhead, and again, we drove the last hour in complete darkness on small little mountain streets. The morning was cloudy but dry, so we went for Ishizuchi-san. About two kilometers from the peak, it started to rain, and we paused at a public toilet (what else do you expect after hiking 4 km into the mountain in Japan?!) around one kilometer away from the top. We waited a few minutes to see if the rain would stop, but it didn’t look so. So we went on, and some young sports group with the same outfits followed. We quickly saw that they were pushing each other, so we let them pass. We followed them, and the rain was forgotten after we had the new goal to keep up with their speed. Just before the top, the rain ended, but it was very cloudy. After our hike, we drove out of the mountains towards Kochi, enough of hiking and driving small mountain roads.

On this day, we experienced again how friendly the Japanese are and how fit elderly Japanese People are. On the top of Mount Ishizuchi, we talked to elderly Ohme, who lives in Kobe, and went out the weekend to hike. He was the fastest of his group of 7 hikers, and as we spoke, his friends arrived, and he asked if we could make a group foto of them—no problem, and a selfie afterward. Two Japanese women from the group came instantly towards us to gift us some Japanese snacks. We liked them very much.

On our way down, we met Kota with the nickname Noisan. He was carrying 25 kg of food for the mountain hut on his back and lives around Ishizuchi-San. He asked if we had an Instagram account, and as we have none, we gave him a card for our blog. Cheers, Noisan; if you are reading this, meeting you was nice!

On our hikes to Mount Tsurugi, Jirogyu, and Ishizuchi, we only saw one Western-looking tourist. It differs from something like Osaka, where you can hear every language. This is the Japan experience we are here for!

Beaches, Spiders, and temples

Today, we decided to escape the bad weather by heading down the coastline to visit some temples and enjoy the beautiful weather at some nice locations. Along the way, we saw a lot of spiders, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. Overall, exploring the beaches, temples, and nature was a great Sunday. One thing we recognized is the signs of tsunamis. You can see the escape signs everywhere, and we also saw some tsunami shelters.

Onsen and Ferry Day

On Monday, our plan was simple. We only wanted to visit an Onsen and catch the ferry towards Fukuoka. As we slept near Amazing Gorge, we went for a little morning hike, and as we saw a rope swing over the water, Marco couldn’t resist. On our way to the Onsen, construction work blocked the road. A construction worker named Nakamura, who is 40 years old, told us we had to wait 45 minutes, so there was no problem for us. We made coffee and gave him one. He was pleased. We found a nice little Onse for only 500 JPY (3 €) in the countryside. The manager of the Onsen was Yoshi, and he also had a campsite next to the Onsen. He was very interested in our route through Japan and had a friend who lives in Berlin. He loves Techno and hopes to get into Berghain one day.

Food and Drinks

That’s it for this week’s blog post. Thanks if you made it down here! Let’s see what the new week will bring.

You don’t want to miss any upcoming Blog Post?

Enter your Email address below and we will send you an info.

October 9 2023

Our first week in Japan

Alicia & Marco Half Year Off, Japan 5

Konnichiwa Japan – 今日は日本

Get ready for our first real travel update after one week in Japan! We discovered new foods, struggled with the Japanese writings, saw the Fujisan, and discovered unique places with our funny little car.

It is Monday morning, and we are sitting in our car at Ise-Shima National Parc in the Mie Prefecture. The weather is rainy, but we have a nice Ocean view and hot Coffee. Perfect weather to finish our first travel update from Japan. Have fun reading!

Arigato Gozaimasu

Alicia & Marco

Arriving in Japan

After our two flights and almost 24 hours of travel, we reached our first destination, the land of the rising sun: Japan. The arrival was smooth, and we were directed to the short-distance taxis without any problems. We prebooked a hotel near the Narita Airport, first because we wanted a hotel within reach and second because we picked up our camper van near Narita. We arrived at the Meet Inn Narita hotel at 2 PM, left our backpacks at the reception, and started exploring Nariata because check-in was only possible after 3 PM. We used the time to get cash at a 7-Eleven ATM and purchased our first Japanese snack, Gyoza. We also discovered a busy street with one restaurant after another. We tried a few things like cucumber on a stick or fried rice dumplings with different sauces. At the end of this street, we saw our first Buddhist temple, Nimomon Gate. We had no expectations, but the old building was imposing.

The first problem with Japanese Writings

For dinner, we picked a small Japanese Ramen shop named Menya Aoyama. There were only locals inside, a good sign for authentic Japanese food. In many ramen shops or restaurants, you must purchase your meal on a vending machine, pay for it, and hand the receipt to the kitchen. Most vending machines have pictures of the meal you purchase on the buttons, but this one was different. There were no pictures, no translation to English, only the Japanese Writing on the buttons. We were fortunate because the Japanese Lady in the ramen shop recognized our problem and helped us to choose a good ramen. Ultimately, her recommendations for us (Tonkatsu Ramen for Marco and mild Tonkatsu Ramen for Alicia) were perfect, and we enjoyed our first delicious ramen in Japan.

Jetlag and Day One in Japan

On wednesday we skipped breakfast and lunch and woke up at 1 PM. Before starting our tour, we checked how to solve our problems with the Japanese writings. If nobody was around speaking English, we had to make a random choice on the vending machine the evening before. The solution was simple: the Apple Translation App could also translate pictures and works offline if the language is downloaded to the phone (for Android users, the Google Translate App with downloaded languages would be another solution). With our problem solved, we got an excellent coffee in the hotel lobby. We started our tour through Narita, where we stopped the day before at the Naritasan Park beside the Nimomon Gate Temple. After exploring for a while, we drank a matcha tee and were ready for lunch after another hour. We chose a small restaurant inside the Narita Train Station and ordered two udon noodles for 500 JPY or 3€ per meal. The meal was delicious again, and we started to wonder if it was possible to choose something untasty in Japan.

Picking up our Japanese Campervan

On Thursday, Yoshi picked us up and took us to the Japan Campers station near Narita. We got our campervan and other camping gear like a gas stove, camping chairs, table, etc. They showed us how to prepare our camper for the night. It’s impressive how this little car can keep all the camping gear, our backpacks, and even a cooling box. We fell in love with it immediately. Finally, we filled our water tank and were ready to hit the Japanese roads!

First Driving Experiences to Odawara Castle

It was easy to drive this little car, shaped like a shoe box, and the automatic gearbox made it even easier. It has been a while going on the left side of the road, but Marco got used to it relatively quickly. Our first stop was a 7-Eleven, which you can find on every second corner in Japanese cities. We picked up some supplies, funny snacks, and drinks and were ready for some highways to escape the crowded surroundings of Tokyo. We read about some Japanese stamp rallies and that you could start one at Odawara Castle. The Castle itself was very astonishing and in relatively good shape. We also found our first stamp in the Castle; more to Japanese Stamp Rallies later…

Fujisan

We got our first views of Mount Fuji on the highway to Odawara. But this differed from our view after passing the Mount Mikuni pass road. The sun was setting, and we accidentally came to the right place at the right time. After sunset, we found a nice sleeping spot just beside the lake. The following morning, we discovered why Japan is called the land of the rising sun. It started at around 5 AM, and the parking lot beside the lake got fuller and fuller. At around 5:30 AM, the parking was full. Photographers trying to get good shots from Mount Fuji as the sun rises, a group of old ladies stretching at the beach, and a couple in traditional Japanese clothes right at the lakefront. It was a very busy morning at the lakefront, and it wasn’t even 6 AM! After a little hike recommended by an old Japanese man we met on the walk again, we drove to Fujiyoshida for lunch. We chose Lake Tanuki for sunset, with a charming lakeside view of Mount Fuji. On this day, we were surprised with presents from Japanese people twice: the first one was the older man who recommended the hike (some power drinks), and the second was a family playing football at the lakeside (some wasabi snacks).

Yume no Tsuribashi Suspension Bridge

After Fujisan, we went more into the hills and recognized, once again, how small the engine of our Suzuki Every was. Every little steeper section was torture for the little car. But we were not in a hurry, so we finally reached our destination, Sumatakakyo Gorge, with its beautiful suspension bridge.

Lazy Japanese Sundays

The lazy Japanese Sunday starts at around 4 AM with fishing. After fishing, the first surfers arrive at 5 AM. We slept the night at a parking place right behind the dunes of the Pacific Ocean. On Saturday night, there were only five cars. On Sunday morning, the whole parking lot was packed. Like always, beforehand 6 AM. Everyone went either surfing or fishing. The weather was not the best that day, and there should be rain later in the morning, so Marco went for his first dip in the Pacific. The water was warmer, as expected. After the bath, we went for a coffee, and it started to rain. We were ready for our first Japanese Onsen experience. Onsen are traditional Japanese hot baths you can find all over Japan. Renewed and fresh, we hit the road again and set off with a ferry from Irago to Toba. We met Hatano and his friends on the ferry, who were interested in how two Germans found this remote ferry line. He translated all the Japanese loudspeaker announcements and liked the Bundesliga. We found a nice little spot beside the ocean for the night. One more thing to mention is the Japanese public toilets. They are everywhere, always (!) clean, and most of them have heated toilet seats.

Japanese Stamp Rallies

Stamp Rallies are very popular all over Japan, and you can get stamps at train stations, castles, and Michi-no-ekis (Japanese Road stations). We collected our first stamp at Odawara Castle. With the castle challenge, you have two options: The 100 Castle challenge or the 24 Castle challenge. Both are very ambitious, even if you travel for four weeks in Japan. So we decided to collect stamps where we got some, and that’s it. We bought a Michi-no-Eki stamp rally book at the Subashiri Road Station and started to collect these stamps in the book since we are traveling by car and will see a lot of Michi-no-Ekis. It’s a lot of fun to collect stamps, and sometimes you even have to wait because others are stamping their rally books right in front of you.

More Food and Drinks

Here is a small collection of our food and drinks during our first week in Japan. One thing we liked very much is the unsweetened green tee you can get everywhere (especially while driving). It is quite surprising the first time you try it because you expect something sweet, like all the iced teas in Germany. Another great Snack is the riceballs you can get with every flavor at every 7-Eleven or similar store. Our favorite one is fried egg rice with soy sauce and broth.

Another great thing we discovered by coincidence was Komeda’s Coffee. It is a food chain where you can get breakfast for free if you order Coffee for 480 JPY or 3€ (until 11 AM). This is also where a lot of this blog post was written.